Let's play
by JackFrostDoll
Summary: Well shit. Looks like I've taken Gary's place. I wonder what ending I'll get? Just one question: What's up with those newspaper pieces I keep finding? What was the guy accused of, who is the guy and what does he or she has to do with the art gallery? Maybe I should keep my focus on surviving and looking for a way out for all of us. Chapter 11 rewritten.
1. Chapter 1

**1) The art gallery**

My name is Seb. Okay, it's just a nickname, but you have to stick with it. I'm wearing a blue vest, open, a blue t-shirt, jeans and white sport shoes. I'm a little thin, no matter how much I eat and I don't do much sport. I finally brought myself into downloading the game Ib. Nothing against the game, but so far I didn't play it, because there was no ending with all three of the protagonists getting out of the painted world.

Now there was supposed to be new content with a bunch of new endings, which surprised me, supposedly you'd only expect one or two or three new endings. So instead of watching another LP, I decided to play it myself and find out myself about those new endings.

The menu was the same, only there was an additional option: new content. Since I had watched a bunch of Ib Let's Plays, I went straight on to the new content.

"Welcome. Thank you for downloading this game. Here you'll witness a new kind of adventure of Ib and her friends. Are you ready? First select a character which will be removed from the game and a new character will be added instead. Depending on your choice, the story will change. Once you chose, you won't be able to undo this choice on this safe file. Now, please choose."

There were now three pictures: Ib, Mary and Garry. "Interesting." I said out loud. Now who do I want to remove? Funny the game is called Ib and yet you can choose to remove the main protagonist from the game. Of course I was tempted to do that. But I decided against it. Next Mary. Although I am a nerd and pretty much the only social contact I have is during buying groceries, working and going to this awesome Japanese restaurant, I could totally understand Mary. Even I would go crazy in there, even with PC, internet and all. Humans, even nerds needed real social contact every now and then. Garry. Well I didn't hate him or anything, but I had the most disagreements with him. I had the feeling he didn't really understand what Mary is going through and only saw her as a monster, like that one room in the game he sees the creepy dolls instead of the bunnies. The bunnies were creepy too, though.

Garry it was then. "Are you sure?" the screen asked. I confirmed my choice.

"Very well. Let's play."

The last two words turned red and red liquid, most likely symbolizing blood, flooded down my screen. Suddenly I felt somewhat chilly. I first thought it was the excitement of playing a new game. Boy was I wrong when a hand came out of my screen and dragged me into it!

"Welcome to the world of Guertena." a voice echoed in my head before I passed out.

XXX

When I woke up, I was under a grey sky, lying on a bench. "What happened?" I wondered aloud. "Ow...now I know how a hangover feels." I mumbled, rubbing my head which felt like it would explode any second.

I sat up and tried to comprehend the situation, tried to remember what actually happened. "Let's go step by step. I woke up pretty late, since it is my free day. Cornflakes for breakfast and then I watched the news. Oh yeah, there'd soon be elections for...arrgh, who cares about that detail? Politic never really works anyway. So, I checked my post and then I started the PC. I wanted to down-

...

Wait, no way this could have happened."

I kept my voice low, so no one would look at me strangely. The people did anyway, since I had been lying on the bench only a minute ago. They must think I was some guy who drank too much last night. I have a cola addiction for that matter.

The one thing about us nerds is having a screwed up mindset, thus having always a strange kind of humor, mine is about death, and being adaptable to crazy situations. This one was a crazy situation.

I decided to take a look on my surroundings. I was in some kind of park, people going for walks with their dogs, children, couples, everything you'd expect. I grabbed in my pocket and sighed in relief as I felt my purse. I'd be screwed ten times over without any money. I remembered exactly in which game I fell in and gulped.

"Could be worse." I reassured myself. "I could have fallen into Slender or Silent Hill. At least here you don't have to fight."

Speaking of that whole crap, where was the art gallery? If I really fell into the game, shouldn't I have come out near it or inside? Well inside would be pretty bad, I'd be thrown out immediately and whoever brought me here, his or her plan would be ruined.

Starting to walk down the park, I tried to figure out who took me in. I realized the number was pretty big, if you count all the dolls, manikins, and pretty much every painting that was alive in the game. Mary was pretty high, but it also could be the artist himself.

Finding the gallery wasn't that easy. I was in a town, I assumed at least 100k people living in here, in whatever microchip I was now.

I walked for quite some time. I didn't have lunch for the day, so I found a burger joint and decided to get some grub for what laid ahead of me. Of course I simply could avoid it all, but I wasn't a complete idiot. I 'removed' Gary from the game, meaning I took his place.

"Multiple endings, now I get it. Everyone who downloads this special version is going to have a hard time." The thing is, I only had one life. So what ending was I heading for? My favorite 'together forever' would kill me. Leaving Mary or Ib behind was against my conscience. 'Welcome to the world of Guertena?' For this ending I had to get mind fucked. No thanks. I wanted to avoid killing Mary, she was way too cool for that.

Realizing I didn't get anywhere with thinking about my situation, I finished my meal. Before I went outside, I walked to the girl behind the counter. "Excuse me, can you tell me where I can find the Guertena exhibition?" I asked.

The woman thought for a moment, before snipping her fingers. "Ah yes, now I remember. It's near the old theatre."

"Uh..well, I'm not from here so..."

"Ah, sorry. Yes well...I know, you can take the bus. There's a station outside. Take the number 30 on the opposite side of the road. It says City Hall. Leave at the old theatre. The station got the same name and there's this old theatre." she chuckled. "Thanks a million. Let's hope I don't walk into my own grave." I muttered the last part.

_"Didn't you recognize him?"_

_"Hmm? Oh hey boss. Should I? He said he's new in town."_

_The boss slapped his forehead. "Haven't you watched the news lately?"_

I had to wait for the bus for a few minutes. Luckily I had a habit of putting hale of my savings into my purse or else I'd have a problem. Still I was just going to get me into more trouble. Did I have a choice? Well, considering I had no papers whatsoever, the art gallery was my only chance to either get home or get a future. Or lose everything.

I shuddered as I entered the bus, taking a seat at the far left corner. I watched the world outside passing, not really thinking about anything at all. I almost missed my stop. Before I entered the gallery, I decided to get some stuff for myself from a shop that was nearby.

I never really cared about what people thought about me, but as I was about to pay for everything, I noticed the guy behind the counter giving me a weird look. A lot of people did it, now that I glanced around. The guy was polite in an icy way, which said: 'Get the hell out of my shop.' Something was off. I have a tendency in pissing people off, but only when I talk. Death jokes and all.

Just when I walked outside, I noticed I had my lighter with me. Huh, I really took on Gary's role. My lighter had a picture of the XIII Arcanum in Tarot: Death. I took my death jokes seriously.

All joking aside, I stood in front of the gallery. It was a huge white building, two stories tall. "Here we go." I entered the gallery and went to the reception. The receptionist didn't give me that weird look, unlike at least some of the other people. What was wrong with them?

Ignoring them, I decided to at least enjoy the gallery as long as I could. Walking around, this gallery had something calm about it. It was larger, than in the game and a few more paintings were hanging around. I almost could hear the soundtrack going on in the background.

I walked to the Hanged Man. Garry wasn't there. Well he could have wandered off somewhere else, but I had the feeling he wasn't even here. I took in the various details you only saw as pixels in the game.

"That guy was pretty good. Wonder how he died." Maybe he could have painted Mary a friend. I felt something tucking my jeans. Turning around, I needed to look down, since it was a kid, tucking my jeans. It was Ib. I noticed I stared at her for a few seconds. When I did, I quickly shook my head. "Sorry about that. You wanna see the picture?"

She nodded. God Ib, stop being so adorable. Her red eyes just look awesome. I gave her some space and she got closer. I faintly remembered from the game she could read this picture.

"The Hanged Man. You know in Tarot, the Hanged Man symbolizes self sacrifice, if I recall correctly. Do you know what Tarot Cards are?" I asked. She looked up at me and shook her head.

"They're supposed to tell the future. There are...twenty...sorry, my brain is failing me. Ah yes, 22 big Arcanums and four smaller once. I don't know about the smaller Arcanums, but I have a faintly knowledge about the rest. Basically, when you start a new day, you pick up a card. Each card has a different meaning. When you pick up a card and it's upside down, you have to take the meaning the other way around. For example 0 the Fool stands for the beginning of a journey. Other way around it would most likely mean the end of one. You still catch up? I'm not bothering you, am I?"

She shook her head and smiled a little. I smiled back automatically. "You're a smart girl, catching up, when I talk that fast without a break. The thing is, I'm not sure if everything I tell you is correct, because 22 the World stands for the end of a journey and...fulfillment? Or was that Judgment? I need to look up again, so some things I told you could be wrong."

She nodded and looked back to the painting. "I'm gonna look around a little more. Laters."

I looked at the different paintings. Not that I understood anything about art or anything. It was worse with books. In tests I almost always failed to interpret them correctly. Paintings were a little easier, since there were multiple explanations. Sometimes.

"Death of the individual. I get the basic idea with the lost heads, but don't they have still some individuality with having different colors?" I asked no one in particular, as I looked at the statues. A man, who seemed to paint stuff himself looked at me.

"An interesting way of interpreting it. You seem to have an eye for such things, my boy."

I shook my head. "I just think a person's individuality is something very important. I mostly misinterpret paintings, texts and all." I replied.

The man chuckled and left for another painting. I looked at the statues which would soon hunt me. I went over to a place, where they showed a lot of accessories. "Are these gems all real?" I wondered. I looked at a sign and yup, they were REALLY expensive. If I had a girlfriend, I'd try to steal some of the stuff for her. Shaking my head at the thought I left for another painting.

_"It is him, no doubt about it."_

_"You mean...but what's he doing here in an art gallery?"_

_"I guess even those guys...spent their time...like...you know."_

_"Can't be. You know earlier I saw..."_

"The Lady in Red." I read out loud. Fairly simple, compared to other paintings. I wondered how she was supposed to hurt me. She didn't have claws or anything, right? The statues I get, although they look a little unstable. With a weapon I probably could fight back.

I took a look at the Abyss. It was painted on what seemed to be 1/10 of a cinema screen. I think I saw the eye of the fish moving. Blinking a few times, I left pretty fast, not running, just walking very fast. Other people were still there, so I was still not in the other world.

I had been staring into space for some time, so one of the employee stuff approached me. "Can I help you?" she asked.

"Well...I'm looking for a painting, it's called Mary."

"I'm sorry, but we're not allowed to put it to the public. The least will of Weiss Guertena."

"You know, weiß means white in German. Who calls his own kid white?" I asked the employee woman and she chuckled. "I didn't know this. Do you have another question?"

I thought about it. "I'm still curious about Mary. I've seen her picture in a magazine. Do you know what inspired Guertena into painting her?"

She shook her head. "No one knows why he started to paint at all. He was a very introverted man."

"Hmm. Thanks for the info. I'll look around a little more then."

"You're welcome. Feel free to ask anything anytime."

Did Guertena know he created a whole world? Was it that reason he died? From what I could gather, the cause of death was unknown. Was he inside that world? Nah, if that was the case, Mary would have escaped already.

I found the Milk Puzzle, which couldn't be found outside the other world in the game. It was in a room, which didn't exist in the game, at least until after you played through it ones and found a special key.

"Struggle after Death. So much for death makes life worth living." I deadpanned as I looked at the statue with the woman and the skeleton fighting. But what did it mean? I always saw death as a kind of salvation, the stop of struggle.

I pretty much looked at everything by now. Maybe I overlooked the one or other painting, but I decided to go to the one painting I've been avoiding.

"Fabricated World." I read out loud. I think I saw the Lady in Red at the right part of the painting (that's how it looks for me from the game).

Nothing happened. I was about to cry out in frustration, yet at the same time I felt a little relieved, but still on edge. Was it too early to happen? Meh, I needed to go to the bathroom anyways.

The light flickered as I stepped in. I didn't think much about it. It happened almost on every second toilet opened to the public I entered. At least it was clean.

When I washed up someone banged on the mirror from inside. I jumped and splashed water everywhere. There was a handprint from outside the mirror. "Oh shit..." It had begun.

I noticed red paint coming out of the tap. Or was it blood? I sure as heck wouldn't check, so I turned it off. Outside the lights were off and no one was there. If the calm atmosphere the gallery had only minutes before was gone. I could hear footsteps, but from the soundtrack file I've gone through before starting the game, I knew it was supposed to be the background music. Right? It did its job well, scaring me and I wasn't even really inside the fabricated world.

As I slowly made my way, I got an idea, looking behind the counter if there was anything useful. My dad for example had one time a flashlight in his office for whatever reason. I found it, when I was young.

Nope no flashlight, some papers, a book which held record of visitors, a small monitor for security cameras most likely. If this would be Silent Hill, I was sure I'd have found a gun. I checked the drawers and bingo, there was something. It was nothing special, it just seemed out of place: newspapers article or rather a part of it.

_...not guilty. The prosecution announced it would go into revision. Prosecutor XXXX XXXXXXX (the name was blackened) gave a press conference in which he said: "I won't rest until this dangerous individual is behind bars!" Meanwhile..._

"Not guilty, huh? Wonder what this 'dangerous individual' is supposed to have done."

I tried not to make an opinion of the defendant. I didn't know the story behind this all and the press had a tendency of overdoing it. Curiosity got the better of me and I shoved it into my pocket.

I checked the front door just in case, but I was locked. The windows wouldn't budge and it was foggy outside.

I wished I had my mp3 with me to block out the footsteps, but I knew I'd need all of my senses to survive this horror trip. I played with the thought of staying here waiting until everything was until I remembered in that case Ib would be the one who'd be trapped.

Being trapped. I needed to find a solution for this one. And I only had one try for everything. Every decision I'd make would influence the 'ending' the three of us would get, in my case most likely Game Over. At least Mary would be able to escape with Ib.

I shrieked and jumped 180 degrees, when I heard a splash. Frantically looking around, I saw a writing on the wall.

**"We're waiting."**

I gulped. This was going to be one hell of a trip. And those guys were getting impatient. "Okay, okay. Just let me look around a little more, 'kay? I wanna look for something."

Another splash on the opposite wall.

**"Come..."**

"Five minutes at most, kay? It's not like I have another choice...great my sanity is already beyond zero. Great job guys!" I clapped.

Actually I did all those antics to keep myself calm. This here was more or less a save room. At least I thought it was. Now I wasn't so sure anymore. I kept looking around, while keeping an eye on my watch. I was looking for more newspapers article pieces.

Suddenly another splash.

**"Five minutes are over. Come, you know the way."**

I looked at my watch. "Huh? You got that right." I tried to more or less befriend with the paintings. Higher chances of survival. "Alright."

I walked back to the Abyss painting. There were two sets of footprints. One was there from the game, the other one was smaller, probably Ib. Wait wasn't I supposed to start elsewhere? Whatever.

"Moonjump!"

Instead of landing on a staircase, was diving into what seemed like water. I held my breath, but soon realized I wouldn't drown. I was sinking slowly, without the chance of getting back to the surface. The big fish swam around me and I totally panicked waving all of my limps.

When my feet hit the ground I was in a blue box-like room. In front of me was a blue door. On the ground was writing: **" A"**

I didn't get what it meant. Did someone caught me or was I trapped? No the door could be opened. Taking some deep breaths, I slowly opened the door, looking for any dangers. I entered the first room. I was inside the World of Guertena.


	2. Chapter 2

**2) It begins**

**A/N: Ooops. Didn't notice Garry is spelled with two 'r'. And I just downloaded the game, xd. I didn't sign it up as horror, since I'm not good with tension. I'll try to keep it up, but no promises. Also in the end of the last chapter 'Gotcha' was supposed to be written instead of a simple 'A'.**

The hallway I was in definitely wasn't in the original game. But it had the same atmosphere: dim light, paintings here and there and of course the feeling of being watched the whole time. Everything was in a blue light, yet I couldn't find the source. So far I had three ways to go. Knowing I was safe (more or less) until I found my rose, I inspected the blue door in front of me: locked.

So it was either left or right. I flipped a coin. Right. I walked down the hall. **"Let's play; let's play; let's play" **was written all over the walls, indicating I was going the right way. 50$ it would change into thief once I get my rose.

!

I thought I saw a figure going through the wall. It was probably just there to scare me, like the windows bleeding, shadowy figures appearing behind them and sometimes making noise. It didn't help me knowing that though.

As expected a door at the end of the hallway. Opening the door I found myself in a storage room. Well I didn't expect this, but maybe I found something in one of the boxes, like Mary did with the pallet knife.

Art supply, a few pieces of cloth, tape, wallpaper? No sharp things like a scissor, too bad. Oh well I have the lighter. I kind of expected this: another newspaper piece.

_However a retrial is impossible at the moment, as the prosecution lacks of witnesses. Although fingerprints and DNA were found on the murder weapon, it is not enough for a guilty verdict, since it belongs to the accused and it was brought to..._

The pieces didn't fit together. So the DNA was on the murder weapon, but it wasn't hard evidence because it belonged to the accused and something else. This was getting interesting.

After I finished searching the room, I wanted to get out, only to find the door locket. "You goota be kidding me!" I exclaimed. "I don't even have a rose yet!" No use crying over spoiled milk. "Okay, you want to play? Let's play. I need a key."

It didn't take me long to find a key. It didn't fit. Looking closer, I found out the key was red and the door was blue. Of course, I needed a blue key I realized. But was there anything else? I must have overlooked something. Geez, this was not so easy like in a video game, where you simply press a button to search the area you're looking at.

Someone knocked at the door. I let out a shriek, but immediately put both hands on my mouth. I was so stupid! I just realized how much tension had been on my shoulders, awaiting an enemy at every corner. This was the worst part in horror games. Not fighting or running, simply NOT KNOWING. We humans grow very paranoid when we don't know anything. Just look at the idiots who think aliens actually created mankind?

I checked the door again. Still nothing. I was actually glad it was still closed. I was tempted to stay in this room for a very long time, if not for the facts first Ib was solving her own puzzles and second, Mary was coming. At this rate I would be the one left behind.

This knowledge gave me a boost to search again, until something caught my eye. There was something at the wall, a small crack in the wallpaper. I reached my hand, which was shaking, towards it and felt something metallic. I pressed it and it turned out to be a button. I heard a faint 'click' sound.

I checked the door again and it was open.

"Holy!" I exclaimed as I saw a blood puddle in front of me, with blood dripping from the ceiling. No wait, something was off. I sniffed the air.

"This is...sea water? No that has been here before. I walked towards the puddle and put a finger in it. "Red paint." I realized. I took a very deep breath and let it out very slowly. I started to act similar to Garry. I wonder, if he would have had the knowledge I had, would he actually try to look for another way out?

No use wondering about it, I needed to get going. As I wandered down the hallway, I wondered how Ib was doing. That hide and seek puzzle is tricky and she must have already gotten her rose. I needed to catch up.

The left hallway was actually pretty cool. It was like in one of those aquariums you can visit to watch the fish, sharks and everything else. I completely forgot where I was, as I slowed down enjoying the view.

"ARGH!"

With a thud I landed on the ground. I looked behind me and found a mannequin looking towards the way I came from. "WHAT SO SHIT!?" I crawled away. Hey it looked like a skull, so stop laughing at me!

I panted a few times before calming down. I walked in front of the thing. "Creepy~" I said in a high pitched sing-sang voice. Those red eyes were creepy. There was a piece of paper taped on its head. As I took it, I immediately calmed down.

**Ha, ha!**

"Very funny." I deadpanned at the mannequin and left it, hopefully for good. The aquarium part ended at the end of the hallway. There was a painting of a beach above the blue door. I still remembered having the green key. Maybe I'd use it later.

The door opened and I found a very simple room. The trap was all too obvious. At the end of the room was the blue rose in a vase. Above it hung the Lady in Blue. There was a bookshelf there too, so I decided to inspect the books.

"20000 miles under the sea...kid books...Flipper...wait. They have DVDs here?" Now that was a new one. Yup, a DVD of a movie called flipper. There were even these stupid advertising flyers inside, which you get nowadays by purchasing a DVD. I closed the box and put it back into the shelf. One last book: drawings of Guertena. Again a part of an article.

_The defendant XXXXX XXXXXX said:..._

That was a short piece, but a piece none the less. I wished I had some kind of small bag for it, like a section of an inventory. At the moment they were loose in my pocket.

Back to the matter at hand, I needed my rose and there was the Lady in Blue.

"3...2...1...0,5...0,4...0, SEE YA!" I yelled grabbing the rose and getting the hell out of there. As I slammed the door shut, I heard the shattering of glass. And I felt pain.

"Shit." I cursed. I forgot roses had thorns and now my hand had a few cuts. I attached the rose to my vest and shut it tight. Walking back the hallway, I avoided the mannequin and continued watching the various paint fishes swimming around.

**"Haven't you forgotten something?"**

A writing I found as the wall returned to normal. "Forgotten." I looked down at my vest. "Well I got my rose, I already inspected the other room, so...shit." I realized something: I had a green key and a locked blue door. In the game Ib, some keys fall out when the lady paintings start to chase you.

I stopped in my tracks, my left leg almost ninety degree in the air. I turned on the other foot around, which was difficult and started walking again. There it was, the tension was back on my shoulders. I was straight walking into the lion's cave.

"Come on, what can a painting exactly do? She's handicapped, the only thing she can do is grab me. I can kick her in return." I assured myself. But when I was standing in front of the door, I was suddenly not so sure anymore.

"Get a hold of yourself Seb! She's on the ground and she has a human design, meaning nothing that could seriously injure you." I growled at myself.

I could now describe how I hesitated, argued with myself, started sweating and all. I'll give you the short version: I waited ten minutes before I entered the room. Inside was the Lady in Blue crawling around. Seriously how was she supposed to damage me? She didn't even look scary. She was more beautiful, than scary. When she saw me, she let out a mad laugh and approached me. I just couldn't take her serious and casually walked around, spotting the key on the floor.

Before I could grab it, I felt a great force pulling on my leg and I fell to the ground. Turning on my back, I wanted to stand up, but the Lady in Blue was already on me and she had spotted my rose. Still in shock, I didn't do much as she pulled a petal out of it.

I jolted and screamed as pain went through my body. I felt like there was a cut on my left arm. The sudden movement of my body through the lady off from me, giving me the chance to pick up the key and get the hell out of there. I learned one fact in this room: don't underestimate your enemies. These paintings were stronger than they looked like. The Ladies don't need any claws or the ability to spit acid. They had strength, a lot of strength.

I placed the key in my pocket and took up the sleeve of my shoulder. There was a cut on my arm, but it was not bleeding. The blood already dried out. "What the hell?!" At least I didn't need to fear to bleed out. Now that I thought about it, it was logic. If I would bleed every time I lose a petal I would die pretty quick. Even if all the wounds heal, once I put my rose in a vase, I'd die from the lack of blood at some point.

I had 9 petals left.

I opened the door to the next room. The key vanished into thin air after I used it. "It would be too easy..." I groaned. I went straight through and found a staircase. I walked up and found a small painting of a shark.

I had only one way to go: left. I wasn't careful. I lost another petal by one of those acid spitting paintings. My flesh felt like it would burn away and I screamed. Instead of working towards my bone, the wound closed up immediately but left a nasty scar.

I won't play brave, I was holding back tears, it hurt that much. The painting next to me laughed at my antics. I showed it the finger.

I walked towards the end of the hallway, where I needed to go left again. In fear of another spit, I walked near the edges. Do you remember the first warning in the game? 'Beware of the edges?'

One of the hands came out and tried to strangle me. It let me go however. Another petal lost. 7/10.

I was lying on the ground for some time, catching my breath and trying to calm myself down. It didn't work because the arm trying to reach me from the wall. I crawled back to the other hallway and leaned against the wall.

"Breath in...breath out...breath in...breath out..."

I was tempted to burn that hand, but the result would be bringing the entire gallery against me. After a while I stood up and made sure I walked in the middle. At the end was a 'save point' a book and a brown vase.

The book was pretty much useless, as this wasn't a game anymore. I put my rose into the vase. You're probably gonna ask why, since I had 7/10 petals left. Because it fucking hurt!

The rose was back to health and I felt my body returning to normal shape. I touched my face and noticed it really was gone. The scar on my arm was gone too.

I wanted to pause so badly, but time was running against me. I didn't know how long Ib would take to solve the puzzles. I knew she was too weak to move the statue in her way, but there was Mary too. She could just ask the statue to move out of the way. I was pretty sure Mary and Ib would escape as fast as possible, leaving me behind.

I needed to meet Ib first, that was the best case scenario. If Mary was already with her, it was okay. But I needed to spend some time with them, I mean: who would trust a stranger?

The next room showed had three circle-shaped exits. There was a map on the wall showing complicated ways of three slides. Two ended in skulls, one ended in a red rose. "Oh god, who designed this place?!" I exclaimed. It was the worst labyrinth puzzle I had ever seen in my life.

"I better take my time."

Someone knocked at the door. I jumped and turned towards the door. The knocking became a banging. "Shit, shit, shit." I hissed and turned towards map again, trying to identify the right road as soon as possible.

In the background someone was slamming something against the door, making it difficult to focus. "Wrong." I cursed a bunch of words, wasting precious time. The left one lead to a skull.

I was in the middle of the map with my finger, when the door fell to the ground. A headless statue was there. Behind it I could see more. "Screw it!" I ran to the end and took the middle slide.

The trip lasted quite some time, when it suddenly went straight. There was a little sign with a skull on it. I took the wrong slide.

"Oh SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!" I lost consciousness.

XXX

I woke up some time later. My nose felt like it was broken. "A kingdom for an airbag." Wait, I was alive? I tried to stand up, only to fall down again. My rose had one petal left. Beneath me the ground had a painting of a skull on it. Same for left to me. To my right was the painting of a red rose.

"I'm not dead." I realized. "I'm as good as dead."

There was no vase close nearby. "Better than...dying...I guess..."

I couldn't walk on a straight path anymore. I needed to rest every few steps and when I didn't the body parts I tried to move would only hurt. At a corner I made a checkup on my body. Burns. I landed on a trap field, which must have burned me. How my clothes were still intact was beyond me, but I took it as a given for now. Was it logic that an art gallery got to live? Was it logic I got sucked into a video game?

I heard footsteps again. The sound let new adrenaline going through my body, which in return caused the pain to go away a little. Using the adrenaline rush, I stood up and made my way in more or less normal tempo.

This gallery really loved to troll me. There was a mixture of spit faces and hands coming out of the wall. Now I knew why there was no vase in the beginning of this room. One false step and I am dead.

**"A pro like you, surely enjoys a challenge."**

I hate this gallery.

Slowly I made way through the hallway, which got smaller and smaller with each step I took. Hands appeared out of nowhere and spit faces everywhere, until it all stopped. The way was way too small for traps. Avoiding would have been impossible.

I was kind of expecting spikes getting out of the wall, like in Silent Hill Downpour.

...

I think I should stop with my game references before this gallery gets any ideas of a crossover. It didn't take long until I reached another door. There was another save point. Out of curiosity I took a look inside the book.

_I've taken the wrong slide. Now I'm seriously injured and have only one petal left. I managed to avoid all the traps this gallery set up in the last hallway, but what awaits me next? I need a vase or I will die pretty soon._

_The tension is getting me. My whole body is aching and I can barely move. Will I be able to find Mary and Ib in time? I wonder. In front of me is a door, which will lead to another slide. I hope it won't end like the last ride._

"What...the fuck?!...That's MY handwriting!"

So these books were like journals of my mind? That's almost exactly what I was thinking about the whole time. So does this apply for Ib and Mary too? Can I use the journals to my advantage? If so, surely Mary knows about them. She lives here after all.

Walking into the next room, there was indeed another slide ride prepared for me. The last one had so many twists and turns, it would have been funny in a sick way, if not for the trap at the end.

Sighing I positioned myself and checked my rose again, so it wouldn't fall of from my vest. Another hole, but nothing that couldn't be fixed. And if it turns into switcher cheese, I could always buy a new one.

...

Why was I worrying about a vest, while my life was on the line?

Whatever...

"Here goes nothing."

It was hard to keep track of where I was going. After the 5th change of direction, I lost my sense of direction. I saw crayon like paintings from the sketchbook. The dolls, Mary, Ib...Hell I think I saw even a painting of me, with my blue rose, but it was all blurry.

I saw more paintings, this time from the gallery. Then there were some creepy faces that followed me, so I could see them clearly: they laughed at me. I felt not very comfortable.

And all of the sudden it ended with my face on the ground.

...

...

Keep. Lunch. In.

...

...

...

"That's one rollercoaster ride I don't want to go through again." When I looked up, the whole world was spinning. I was about to gross out again, so I closed my eyes and placed my head on the ground again.

"Urrrgh...pain..."

My rose was still missing a lot of petals. The pain in my body increased due to the impact. I couldn't help it; I needed to rest for a while. I was only half asleep, oblivious to my surroundings, but still aware of the pain.


	3. Chapter 3

**3) Ib not so alone anymore**

Now I knew what hell truly was. I wasn't able to move a single limb of my body. My mind was hazy, but I all I could make out was my body being in a lot of pain. Beneath the thoughts of how it hurt, how I wanted to go home, how I wanted it to stop, there was one thought that kept me at the reality I was stuck in. My rose needed water.

Something was supposed to happen, but I couldn't figure out what, as my thoughts kept drifting off. What did I do to deserve this? Was it because I spent less and less time with my friends until I was alone? Was it because-

It stopped. The pain was gone. I felt good all of the sudden, like I had been on fire before, but someone splashed water over me. I slowly got up and watched my surroundings. The hallway was red and there was a painting hanging next to me.

"Abstract Painting. Where have I seen it before? ...! Where's my rose?!"

Now THAT wasn't good. I looked around the area, but didn't find it anywhere. Did someone take it? Suddenly I heard footsteps approaching in my direction. It came from in front of me. I got on edge and looked for a place to hide. The thing was, this floor was straight, so I had nowhere to hide. Thanks to the dim light, I could only see a small shadow approaching me.

Wait small? Could it be...? Now I remembered!

"It's you!" I said, as Ib stopped in her tracks. I approached her and bent down to her level. She held two roses in her hands: Her own red one and my blue one. "Do you remember me? I'm the guy who stood in front of the Hanged Man and was blabbering about Tarot Cards."

Ib simply nodded. She held my rose towards me. "Did you put it in water? Thanks, you literally saved my butt." I took it and attached it to my vest again. Would look good on a smoking, I thought.

"You can call me Seb, by the way. What's your name?" I asked in a gentle tone.

"...Ib." she answered shyly.

"Ib? Strange name, gotta say it. But it's strange in a really cool way. You got one unique name." I smiled. Her cheeks turned a little red and she looked down.

She really was a shy girl. She kind of reminded me of myself was I was little. I stood up looking around. "Shall we go?" I asked and she nodded. I turned around and wanted to go ahead, when that painting on the wall I overlooked spit acid in front of me. "Aah!" I jumped and fell straight on my ass.

"I always forget about them." I growled. I looked up at the painting and was about to let out some words, when I was reminded Ib was still here. I sighed.

"Let's go. The faster we get out, the faster we will never see those guys again."

Never see again. The words left a bitter taste in my mouth after I said them. I turned around and noticed Ib looking at the other, not deadly painting. I walked over to her. She put her finger on a word.

"I...don't know this word." she said and looked up to me expectantly. I couldn't help but smile. I never got along well with children, but Ib was just so super adorable, cute, if she were a woman at that time, I knew I'd have fallen for her.

"It says abstract painting. Yeah abstract, still remember the time I learned about it in school. The best grade I ever got in art class." I smiled at the memory. For some reason I ´had it pretty fresh in my mind.

"Abstract?" Ib had a hard time pronouncing the name. I looked down at her. "You don't know the word?" She nodded.

"Well...how should I put it? Abstract means...uncommon...I think. It's like...well, abstract paintings don't make any sense to put it simple. Just look at this one. See how there're just a bunch of colors in no visible pattern? How there doesn't seem to be a picture, just colors randomly thrown in? That's basically what abstract paintings are." I told her.

Afterwards I wanted to go on, but it took my sleeve. I looked down at her. "What's wrong?"

"There're...more paintings."

"Ah, you want me to help you understanding them? Are you sure? Aren't there enemies waiting?" I asked.

She looked down ashamed. Ib...stop...arrgh.

"Okay, no risk no fun I guess." I ruffled her hair. After I spoke those words, it seemed a little bit wrong, but Ib was happy anyways. I could see how people put her together in a relationship with Garry. I hoped I wouldn't turn into a pedophile. At the end of the hallway was a painting called Peacock Pattern. I'll never understand it.

Afterwards we walked into a room full of bookshelves. "Just a sec Ib. I'm gonna look around a little 'kay?" She looked at me confused. I showed her the pieces of the newspaper article. "Before I entered the Abyss of the Deep, I found this piece here in the gallery. Inside this world so far, I've found two other pieces. Maybe there's a relationship between the article and what's happening to us." I told her. She looked at the pieces, but I could tell she had a hard time reading it.

"I'm not sure whether I should tell you...Well a guy or a girl got a not guilty verdict. From what I could read so far, the public and the prosecutor are not convinced. But I don't know what the defendant is supposed to have done."

"Prosecutor? Defendant?" she asked.

"Oh sorry, guess I used a lot of big words. You know what a policeman is right?" she nodded. "You also know what a trial is, right?" Another nod. "Well prosecutors are people who show a judge what the defendant, the one who is supposed to have committed a crime, has done or at least the police thinks he has done. The defendant can either defend himself or look for help from a lawyer, the opposite of a prosecutor. Sometimes the police make mistakes and trials are there to find out the truth. In this case the truth the judge saw was the police made a mistake. Umm...was that too much?"

She shook her head. "Really?! You understood it all?!" I asked baffled. She nodded and smiled a little proud. "How old are you?" I asked. She showed me five fingers of the one hand and the thumb of her other hand. "You're six?! And you got that all?! You're not only smart. You have potential to become a genius, no kidding. When I was at your age, I couldn't even count to 20 or spell my own name."

It made sense. A dummy could have never solved the puzzles Ib had to go through. And she was brave too. I bet other kids would have crawled up to a ball, crying for their parents.

Ib's eyes seemed to sparkle. I turned around and searched through the bookshelves. There was this one video, which only worked in the Japanese version. I hoped Ib didn't watch it. I looked through everything until I really found something.

_"I just let the evidence speak for me. I didn't do it and I'll leave it at that."_

Another short piece. "Wow, they had the dignity of putting what he or she said into this article. But I bet when we find the next parts, they're going to make the defendant look like a he truly did it. Or she.

Okay, I guess I looked through everything. Let's go."

Ib lead the way and I was not very comfortable with letting her go in front of me. At least I could keep an eye on her that way. There was the Lady in Red, but she didn't notice us. The 'Ah' and 'Uh' statues...I didn't get them. Except...

I shouldn't finish this train of thought.

Ib took me around the corner.

"Smoking Gentleman. A gentleman is someone who behaves himself always polite and is nice to ladies." I explained in a whisper tone. We quickly made our way out of the room.

As we made progress, we came to the process of execution, where there was the trap of the guillotine. I stopped on front of where it hit the ground. "That's not very assuring." I commented. Ib took my hand and now of all things she guided me further. If I ever had any pride, it was gone for good.

Avoiding traps and enemies was easier, since there weren't that many, like where I started. I explained to her every word she didn't understand and it took us quite some time. But it was totally worth it. Ib wasn't like the other children I was used to, from the little experience I had. Hey I'm uncle, since I was 17! I have at least a little experience.

Ib listened intently and absorbed the information I gave her like a sponge does it with water. We already arrived at the very first gallery, the one Ib arrived and I explained to her the Geometric Fish. I sank back against a wall.

"Never ever talked that much in life." I said and chuckled a little. It felt so much better being with Ib. The world wasn't so grey all of the sudden. I dunno, the girl just got that kind of aura around her. "Little break?" I asked. She nodded and placed herself next to me on the ground.

We sat there in comfortable silence for a while. I looked at my watch. It had stopped. Did time stop outside until an ending was decided? Or did it just slow down?

"I wonder" I started "why does this place exist in the first place? Why are the paintings attacking us? Who was Weiss Guertena really?" Ib looked up at me with those big red eyes. "Haha, did you know weiß means white in German language? Why would someone call their kid white?" I asked Ib and laughed.

"You talk even less than I do. Belief me, now I'm talkative, but normally I don't like talking that much. She didn't reply anything. She just kept staring at the wall in front of us. I wondered what she was thinking. Then I reminded myself that there was an easy way to check for me. But now that I really thought about it, Ib's deepest thoughts may be written inside these books. So I decided against reading those books.

"The talking ant. Wow...if you wouldn't be here, I'd think my sanity was down in the dumb." I laughed.

"Shall we go?" I asked and helped her up. I wanted to let go of her hand, but she insisted on holding hands. So we walked hand in hand back to where we started. The only time we broke up, was when we came to the room, the Lady in Red was roaming around. I wasn't really a sports type, but I was a very good sprinter. Ib waited at the door, until I gave my signal.

"Yo!" I shouted. The painting immediately crawled after me, but I didn't really need to stress myself out. Aside from that, I needed it to catch up, so Ib would have enough time to get to the safe room. I heard the door being shut and made my own escape to the room with the bookshelves.

"That went well. Can't belief I let one of those take one of my petals." I shook my head. "I didn't know at that time how strong those paintings are. Let's keep it up."

Ib nodded and took my hand again. I hoped Mary wouldn't feel jealous. I guess I should take her hand as well or let her hold Ib's hand more often. Not that I had any experience with people who were insane and Mary belonged to those people, but I figured I should give her what she wanted: a friend. I'd make sure to become her friend as well, she's just awesome. I wanted her to consider we all should try to escape, but how should I do it? I guessed the first step would have been befriending with her, but in a way she befriended with Ib as well and would not leave her behind.

I rubbed my forehead. All those things I needed to consider, it blew up my mind. And then there was the fact that my life was on the line. No not only mine, Ib's and Mary's as well.

...

Huh...

This was the first time I thought about the safety of other people and not only my own. Ib, you're a manipulative girl and you don't even know it or want to manipulate people.

"This is in the way, huh? Give me a sec."

We were back where she found me. I checked the ceiling and found a hole. I told her about the little 'fun trips' I had. "Aaaand...hmmph!" I pushed the statue out of the way. "Oh man...that thing is way heavier, than it looks like." I said.

We walked down the stairs. Oh I remember how let's player got stuck in that part of the game, mainly the maze. But first, there were the paintings and the hands.

"Grieving Bride...Grieving Groom...Grieving Bride's left and right Hand...there's actually someone out there who's worse at giving names, than I am?" I asked and laughed in a goofy way. "We should keep the hands in mind. Since they're not attacking us, they might be part of a puzzle."

The thing was, the deeper we would go into the gallery, the less I'd remember the puzzles. I remembered the maze and I remembered a door, we needed to give it the bouquet of the bride, but that was it. Luckily I still knew the maze was the hardest part, at least in my opinion.

"Looks like we have some options. I let you decide where to first." She checked out a door to our right. It was closed. She didn't go into the maze room, instead she silently decided we should look around first. So we went to the left and found a bunch of eyes. And I thought Mike Tyson on crack was disturbing...

"Don't tell me there actually exists a painting or sculpture like this." I said sweatdropping as we found the eyes. "Quite the eyesight, don't you think?" I asked.

She looked at me with empty eyes. Was that her deadpan? Wow.

"Okay, bad pun, I know. Just don't look at me like that. It's creepy." I sighed. "And people complain about me and my death jokes." Not to mention I support cannibalism (when the guys are dead and NOT murdered), euthanasia and have two books at home about funny ways how people died. Some of them are famous.

We carefully made our way through the hallway, trying not to step on an eye on accident. We found the one eye, which was sick. "Ouch, must be painful. Can we help it somehow?" I asked, although I knew the answer. We had to whether we wanted it or not. Ib meanwhile found out a choice of the game: she stared at the eye.

...

...

...

"Ib, I don't think a staring contest is going to help the little guy." I should have gone to the pharmacy before entering the gallery. It would save us some time. We went over to the paintings. An ice mountain, the white snake with the missing eye and the apple tree. We wandered a little more, until we came to the painting which wanted flowers.

"Me want flowers..." it sniffed. Unlike in the game, you could see it's facial features changing and the mouth was moving while it spoke. "You have flowers...gimme, gimme." Was it just me or was the text a little different? Whatever.

"If we give it our roses, we're screwed. Let's look around more." I said, already pushing Ib away from the painting.

"Me want flowers. Ehehehe, ahahaha. AHAHAHHHAHAHAH; EHEHEHEHEHE; OHOHOHOHO!"

"And I thought I was a little psycho. I watched Scary Movie one time too often."

Yeah, I said it right in front of a six year old kid. I have my habits and making comments is one of them. We walked back to where we came from and stopped near the book.

"That covers up the outside. Oh yeah, Ib, do you remember the blue vase in the last gallery? Whenever we get injured and have the chance, we should use that one to patch us up. I noticed blue vases have infinite water." I lied. I knew they had it. I never felt so bad about lying, but then again, this was a six year old girl who saved my life. I owed her my life.

Ib decided for the room with the stools, where we saw the medicine at the other end of the room. Couldn't we just go over them? N O P E.

"What the...? It's like there's an invisible wall here. Hmm..." I shoved the stool away. "So that's how it is. I should expect something like this from the gallery."

We made great progress, until Ib suddenly stopped. I looked at her and she shook her head. She went to the other side of the stool and pushed it away. She solved the rest of the puzzle and took the medicine.

"That's that down. Good job Ib."

We walked outside and towards the eyes. Ib used the medicine and the now cured eye showed us the secret passage. We couldn't use it before, I checked it. There was now a door, where a wall had been before. We walked inside and found a red glass orb. No newspaper pieces here. I haven't found one in a while. Wouldn't surprise me if I overlooked some already.

We walked to the snake painting. I put the orb in, since Ib was too small. The apple tree painting fell down. There was the message: 'Behind the big tree.' Over it was finally a new piece.

_...IS SET FREE ONCE MORE!_

"That looks like the second part of the heading. It says once more, so whoever was dragged to court, it wasn't the first time." Now I of course sided with the prosecutor. This was just too suspicious. The police wouldn't drag the same guy over and over to court just for fun. The funny part was, the guy didn't use a lawyer. He let the evidence speak, so maybe the guy was a lawyer himself.

I shook my head. This story always got me off the real issue. Safe room or not, if the paintings get impatient again, I don't think they'll give me another five minutes.

I told Ib my thoughts and we walked to the only room available at this point: the maze.

"Labyrinth. Nice." I said in a deadpan. I took the lead and walked to the right. I knew our destination was to the left, but going right would leave us more room to run. We looked around every corner. Still neither Ib, nor I went unscratched out of this. When we were checking one corner, a statue hurt Ib with its claw. She screeched, getting the attention of the other two headless statues. I grabbed her hand and made a dash for the switch. I pressed it and ran again, only to run into a statue, hitting me. Ib somehow managed to keep running with me, while I looked for a way out. My carelessness got me lose two more petals. I ran to the north end, then east and made a mad dash, accidently kocking one of the statues over. The impact was intense enough to make me lose another petal.

When we got out, my head was injured, my arm and two parts of my chest as well. Again, why were my clothes intact? I saw the statues ripping through them!

It didn't matter, Ib was injured on the head as well and was shaken because of all. I myself collapsed, just noticing how scared I was. Ib ran next to me.

"Seb!" she shouted.

"I'm fine. Just...not every day you...run for your life." I said and tried to laugh over the situation.

"Ow..." Ib rubbed the back of her head. I stood up and walked with her to the vase. "Put it in."

"But, you lost more petals."

I waved off. "I still have six left and you only four. I'm sure I'll hold up, until we make it back to the eternal blessing." The painting over the blue vase was called this way. Ib obliged, although I could tell, she didn't want to.

"Come on, I survived with one petal a bunch of traps. I'll make to a vase where no trap is in the way alive. If not, I'm officially lame." Again, I laughed the situation off. She looked at me like an angry mother at her child. She took my hand and led me to the vase.

"Ib, I can go on my own. Jeez."

One moment the girl is all shy and the next she's almost commanding. The only things missing are the harsh commands. I laughed imagining Ib in a military uniform. General 'Blood Rose' Ib, yeah that has a nice ring to it.


	4. Chapter 4

**4) Butterfly effect**

**A/N: the reasons updates come so quick is because I'm playing Ib at the moment, which in return motivates me in writing more. Can anyone guess what will happen in this chapter just by reading the title?**

**By the by, small parts of the original map are slightly changed to fit in this chapter.**

That sensation you get, when you put your rose into a vase and your body patches up in the process, it's hard to describe, but the best way to put is it to compare to a drug. It really was like a drug. Hopefully I wouldn't turn into a masochist.

I stretched myself after my body was back to normal. "Ahh, much better." Ib was back to her normal self, after I was healed. I had a little problem attaching the rose back to my vest. Now that I thought about it, I really should have prepared for the gallery, like buying something to keep my rose safe.

Speaking off prepared, did I still...? Yup, everything still there. And that after all I went through. I looked up at the ceiling, where I came through. Ib looked up too, a little sparkle in her eyes. "Ib, you DON'T want to ride on that slide. Especially not with only one petal left."

I took her hand and we walked back to the grey gallery, where we still had to solve some puzzles. I couldn't belief the Lady in Red fell for the same trick a second time. We soon found ourselves back where we left off.

"Okay, last time I pressed a button. Did anything change?" I asked. Ib and I started looking around. Ib found out the a door was open, which had been closed before. The first thing that caught our eyes was the wine sofa.

"Would be cool having that in my living room, but I doubt anyone can sit there very comfortable. Hmmm...wanna try it out?" She shook her head and went on to the statue.

"Melancholy. Haha, the past 3 years that's exactly how I feel most of the day."

Ib didn't know the word, so I quickly explained it to her. We walked to the next sculpture: a skeleton weird painted.

"Puzzle? The hell? Now I'm sure Guertena had some serious problems with his psyche." Finally the last one: Living. "A tree looking like a man? Seems normal, compared to what we've seen so far? Hey wait, didn't the other painting had something written about a tree?"

Ib was already checking and so did I. She tucked my sleeve as I was acting, like I was still searching. "A ring? Ah, grieving bride. We need to attach it to her hand. Uhh...On which hand does someone wear a wedding ring? I honestly don't know."

The ring was silver and some tiny flourish like decoration. Ib put the ring away in her pocket and we exited the room, holding hands again. By now we do it almost on auto pilot. I felt comfortable being together with her and I guess Ib was scared, although I didn't see much of it.

Luckily Ib knew on which hand a wedding ring belongs and she put it on the ring finger. Immediately the Grieving Bride's face and the Grieving Groom's face turned happy and the writing beneath their paintings changed to Blessed Bride and Groom. The bride through her bouquet into the air and Ib caught it. I smiled.

"You know, the woman who catches the bouquet of a just married woman, will be the next one who's going to get married."

Ib blushed madly and dropped the flowers. I laughed over her antics and petted her head. "It's just a saying. Don't take it too serious." Ib calmed down a little bit and picked up the flowers. We walked to the mad painting and Ib handed over the flowers. The painting devoured the things within seconds.

"Ever heard of table manners?" I asked in a deadpan.

"Ehehe...thank you. You can pass now." The painting turned into a blue door. Despite my knowledge, which was running out with this room, I hesitated stepping through. From now on even I would have problems with the puzzles. I had the story in my head, but that was it.

"Ready or do you want to look around a little more?" I asked. I didn't know if we had overlooked something and for some reason I mostly let Ib make the final decision, like well she IS the main protagonist.

Ib went ahead and I followed her. Just as I stepped through the door, Ib stumbled back and hit my legs. "Wow, wow, everything alright? Huh? HUH?!" Oh shiiiiiiiiiIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIiiiiiiiit, I cursed in my mind. I may not remember much, but I knew we were NOT supposed to meet Mary yet. Alright, calm down and go with the flow, I told myself.

Why did I had the feeling I'd die really soon?

Oh right, Mary was way more psycho than I am. Hey, I laugh over the deaths of people. I know myself.

Back to reality:

"Are you alright?" I asked the blonde on the ground. Ib walked over to her and kneeled down next to her. The girl looked up directly into Ib's eyes. The two eyed each other for a few seconds before the blonde's gaze fell onto me.

"Huh?"

"Need any help?" I asked, crouching down in front of her. "I'm fine." she assured and stood up. She looked over to Ib and then to me and so on.

"This here is Ib, by the way." I put my hand on Ib's shoulder. "You can call me Seb. What's your name?" I asked.

"I'm Mary." she replied. Hmm, she wasn't cheerful or anything, more vary and calculating.

"Did you end up in the painted world too?" I asked. "Huh? Oh... mhmm." she nodded.

Liar. But I'll forgive you. What did Garry asked next? Oh yeah.

"Do you have a rose too?" I asked, pointing at my rose. "Uhuh! A bright yellow one. I love yellow, but I also love red and blue!" she cheered. Now that's the Mary I was expecting. Her cheerful demeanor was addicting and I found myself and Ib smiling. Now I was accompanied by two manipulative girls, one being a complete psycho and the other...I dunno, shy was the best I could come up.

"Alright, looks like we got a new friend."

"Friend? Yayy! Let's be friends! We can play hide and seek or catch or..." Mary went on and on. I laughed after a little while. Mary and Ib looked at me confused. "What's so funny?" the painted girl asked. I waved off, still snickering. "Sorry, it's just funny, our lives are on the line, but you're still happy and so full of energy. You're a great addition to our group. So, shall we get going? The faster we're out, the faster we can play something."

"YAY! Come on, Ib!"

Mary grabbed Ib's hand and ran ahead. "Hey, wait for me!" I shouted and ran after them. They didn't get far, as I caught them before the staircase. I took Ib's other hand and the three of us walked up the stairs, Mary happily waving Ib's arm up and down. The red eyed girl didn't seem to mind. We soon found ourselves between the mannequins, with the paintings of the weird guy, I call him for the moment. One of them followed us with his eyes.

Ib grabbed my hand harder and I could tell she did the same with Mary's hand. "I bet these guys are former KGB-agents." I joked. None of the girls got the pun.

At the end of the hallway was a picture of a blue butterfly, a tornado in the background. "Butterfly Effect." I read out loud. "So cute!" Mary cheered. Ib pointed with her finger at the tornado. "Why is that there?"

"Does any of you ever heard of the butterfly effect theory?" I asked. Ib shook her head. "No, what is it?" asked Mary.

"Well, it's as I said only a theory. You know, when a butterfly flaps with its wings there's a small, a very small wind afterwards. Like this." I breathed into Ib's hair, who shrieked and jumped into Mary, making them both almost fall to the ground. I laughed a little.

"Anyways, the theory says, that such a small wind could fuse together with larger winds, and then there come more and more and more, until it becomes a huge storm."

"Wow! Is that really true?!" Mary asked, sparkle in her eyes. "It is a theory, so no one really knows. Exciting huh? Anyways, the theory doesn't stop there. Mmm...how do I put it?" I thought about what I was going to say for the next minute.

"Let's assume, you have a doll. By pure chance, that doll gets broken. Your parents decide to buy you a new one. However, you don't have so much fun with that doll, you want your old back, but it is beyond repair." Ib was looking at me expectantly, while Mary couldn't stand still.

"So, in order to get your old doll back, you travel through time and prevent it from being broken. Since we got sucked into an art gallery, that doesn't sound that impossible anymore." The last sentence I said with my deadpan voice. "So, I already told you how a single butterfly could create a storm. Now, let's say you manage to 'save' your doll and you can continue playing with it: can the two of you tell me what else changed?" I asked.

Ib was smart and all, but she didn't catch my drift. Mary was drawing a blank too. "Well duh, you can play longer with your doll."

"I already said that. Alright I'll tell you. First your parents don't buy the new doll. Small change? Nope. Now another child's parents have the chance to buy that doll and eventually that kid actually has fun with the doll. It could meet another kid who loves dolls and they could become friends.

Meanwhile your own parents saved up some money and can buy you something you really want or could use the money on something else.

But what if your doll ultimately breaks and you can't buy the other one, since the other kid has it? You'll have to play without one.

You still catching up?"

I had been into my talkative mode again. "Not really." Mary admitted, but Ib nodded. "Really, you did it Ib? Wow, you're really smart! Can you explain it to me, please?" the blonde almost begged. Ib nodded and told her what I told them using easier words and she took her time.

"Ah, now I get it! Thank you Ib!"

Ib blushed a little and looked away. God was that girl shy. "Oh Ib, your cheeks are getting red." Mary put a hand on her forehead. "Your head is hot. I've read in a book people get sick when their heads are hot! Ah, Seb! Ib is sick, do something!" she shouted. I could't help but snicker and put my own hand on her forehead.

"Jeez, Mary, Ib is not sick, she's just shy."

Ib's cheeks got redder. "Shy?" Mary asked.

"She's not used to so much attention and so many compliments. She can't bring herself to thank you properly, but she's really grateful, the reasons her cheeks are red."

"Really? Oh Ib, you had me worried. I read that people who're sick can't play games."

With the exception of video games, when your mind is still working properly.

I stood up and looked around another time. ? One of the mannequins had a paper on its head.

**"How is the game?"**

"Very funny." I commented. I shoved the paper away and got back to the girls. "Let's go or else we'll NEVER get to play." Maybe I shouldn't have emphasized 'never', because Mary was almost in a panic and ran ahead with Ib again.

"Wait!"

We came to the really big room with the Lady paintings and the statues. Luckily so far, only the Lady in Red was chasing us, so we could outrun her behind a corner. "Okay, let's whisper for the time being or she'll get us." Even Mary was serious. I wondered if she could stop the paintings, but better play the facade of not knowing she was a painting herself.

We came across a door, which needed a password. Something in my memory began moving, but it was too faint to grab it. The door next to the other asked about the amount of woman paintings in the room.

"Great..." I muttered. "I'm good at math and counting. Stay here, I make a speed run." Counting was not a problem. I expected the other Ladies in Red to jump off, but there was only the one thing. I had to take a longer route back in order to not bring it to Ib and Mary.

Said girls were chatting about something when I returned. "Okay, the answer is 14." There was a click sound and we entered. There was a vase, a poster with what would happen if someone tried to steal the paintings (with some missing letters) and a bookshelf.

We inspected the bookshelf, Mary reading out loud a handwritten book, which described the gallery as an horror amusement park. Ib was looking into the book too. I only half listened and soon found what I was looking for. "Bingo." I said in a sing-sang voice.

"What is it?" Mary asked. I quickly explained to her the newspaper pieces and read them all for her one more time before reading the new one.

_...the parents of the victims are shocked about the sudden predicament. (Their complete interviews are on page five.) Some of the women broke down crying in front of the courthouse. More than one father tried to get to the defendant, who needed to be guarded by policemen._

"So he or she did something to children." I concluded. "A lot of children from the sound of it." I shivered at the thought. "I'll protect Ib from whoever this defendant is!" Mary declared. I chuckled. "Count me in. But maybe the guy or the girl really is innocent. So far he was not proven of any guilt. It may be uncommon, but the police really could have made a really great mistake."

I didn't belief it myself, but the possibility remained. I always tried to be neutral.

We walked out, only to be found by the Lady in Red. We used the many corners and our better movement speed to lose her. We looked around more and found the Hanged Man. "Heh, that's the painting Ib and I first met. Hmm? There's something written on his shirt. Four numbers: 5629."

"The password!" Mary exclaimed. "I'll remember the numbers. Let's go!" We walked back and Mary entered the numbers. Nothing happened. "Huh? But I'm sure I remember it right." She tried again, but failed. "What?!" Mary looked down, sad. Ib petted her on the back. Mary looked up and saw Ib smiling at her. "I'm sorry Ib."

Ib looked at the door for a minute, before she tried it herself. "The other way around." she said, while typing the numbers. "Other way around?" Mary and I echoed. Ib nodded. "He was hanging upside down." It made click and the door was open. "Of course!" I slapped my head. "You have to put yourself in the same position to read the actual password!"

"Wow Ib, you're so smart! You even outmatched an adult like Seb."

I held my hands up in defeat. "Yeah, Ib is way smarter than I'll ever be."

The true password was 6295.

We entered the room. There was another vase, a painting and a stool in front of it. Why did I had the feeling someone was sitting there? Paranoia is striking in. Ib noticed something and moved the table with the vase on it, until it sunk into the ground a bit. There was a sound outside.

"Good job Ib."

"You're the best." Mary cheered and was holding her hand again.

Outside we found a mannequin next to a stool. The mannequin hadn't been there before. "If you make me trip again, you'll regret it." I growled.

We walked to where we came from, only to notice, there were now two paintings chasing us. We wanted to fell into a small room, but the door was locked. The same went for a room at the south with a window.

"I saw another earlier. Follow me."

I went north east, where the door was unlocked. We walked in and only found a mirror. "That was a blank...oh."

"What is it Seb? Huh? Ib look! Over there!"

A mannequin was in our way to the exit. "Maybe the mirror has a clue." Mar suggested. We turned around again and suddenly the mannequin was right behind us.

"AAAHH!" we all screamed and jumped right and left.

"D-d-dude! First you make me trip and now you scare me?! You got nothing better to do?!" I shouted. I took several breaths to calm me down. "Let's go. Before he pulls another prank."

"You're such worry wart." Mary giggled. "You were scared yourself." I pointed out. We left the room. "So, what now?"

"Let's check the other doors again. Maybe something happened."

I shrugged and Ib complied silently to what Mary said. As long as I didn't know her secret, she wouldn't pull off something in haste, more like prepare a trap.

More paintings were out and we needed to be more careful. One of them jumped out and caught me off guard, making me loose a petal.

I had now a little head injury, but nothing too serious, just a little mark from the frame. We made our way to the doors, but nothing was open. We sneaked/ran around me loosing another petal, until we found a grey key, where a Lady in Green had been before.

We first tried the room with the mirror and had success.

"A sofa?" I asked.

"Yaayy!" Mary jumped on the sofa and kept jumping. "Ib, this is so funny! You have to test this. Ib! Ib?" Mary stopped all of the sudden as Ib walked past the sofa to the large picture.

"Ib? What's wrong Ib? Why are you crying?" Now that got my attention and I walked next to them. Then it finally hit me. God, my memory was sometimes really screwed up.

"My...parents." I barely heard her. "Your parents? Now that you mention it, I've seen those two in the gallery." I nodded.

"These are your parents? Wow you look totally like them, especially your mother." Mary giggled. "Hmm, maybe in this world people from the outside are normally paintings and vice versa? That must be it, I doubt they'd been turned into paintings. Don't worry Ib, my theory is time stopped outside, since my watch stopped working ever since I entered here. And I changed the battery last week."

"Yeah, we'll all come out and then we'll become sisters, I'll meet your parents and we can play together!"

Ib sniffled and grabbed both one of our hands. "Thank you." she whispered, holding back tears. Now I really saw how much the gallery was getting to her. We motioned her to the sofa. There were only places for two people and I let Mary have the seat. "Take care of her, 'kay?" I whispered to Mary. "I'll look around for clues." Mary nodded, her smile being slightly insane.

You're giving away who you are. I let out a little sigh. I had to tell her that I knew her origins sometime. But when was the right time? Before the separation? After the separation? I didn't know it. What made things worse, my memory was so hazy, I couldn't predict what would happen next.

**"Why don't you rest? You'll never get hurt again."**

"Sounds too good to be true."

The bookshelves didn't had anything special. There was a window next to a-

"Oh shit." Now I remembered. I decided to prepare and shoved the shelf in front of the window. The trigger was opening the door and Ib still needed to calm down. I hoped the paintings would give us some time.

I took one of the two vacant chairs and placed myself in front of Ib, who was holding Mary's hands tightly. "We'll go whenever you feel ready." I said to her, trying to hide my nervousness. Ib nodded. She and the other girl were luckily too occupied with each other. The stool wasn't very comfortable, but my feed needed some rest after hours of walking around.

Ib stood up. So much for giving my feet a rest. Mary took Ib's hand and I tried to use the door. It wouldn't budge. "O.O'!"

From outside were multiple loud bangs to hear. "Do you think they'll stop, when we say we're not here? Hehe..." I tried to laugh the situation off, but even I couldn't hide my panic anymore as tje Lady in Yellow broke through the wall.


	5. Chapter 5

**5) Sleepover**

Loud banging could be heard from outside. Ib was clutching to Mary, who was either really distressed herself or was a pretty good actor. I had no time to think about it, because I was in a panic myself.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit." I kept repeating silently. I was stunned to where I stood, frozen, unable to move. That was until the Lady in Yellow broke through. Something inside me snapped, a long forgotten survival instinct.

"RUN!" I shouted, grabbing Ib's and Mary's hands and made a run for the whole which was now in the wall. Ignoring Mary's complaints that I was hurting her, I ran outside, straight to the left. Big mistake.

I ran directly into another Lady, I didn't care about the color, stumbled and fell to the ground. Because I had been still holding the girl's hands, they fell with me, screaming. I tried to get up, only to have my arm being grabbed. Another Lady came and I lost one of my petals. Luckily my body had the habit to jerk up, so I broke free, even if it was not my own will. 8/10 left.

I looked around frantically only to realize Ib already lost three petals thanks to a statue.

Now I'll be honest with you guys. Normally I would have run away immediately, saving my butt. I mean this was my chance: my back was free and without Ib and Mary I could actually run at full speed, making it to the exit in no time.

Normally.

But there was something about Ib. It called my protective instincts up. I've NEVER EVER felt that way for ANYONE, not even my parents or any other family member.

Include Mary glaring at me, even for a split second, it was enough to take the next blow from the statue. I lost another petal and I was hungry. It hit my stomach.

Now it stood 7/10 for me and 2/5 for Ib. Mary meanwhile helped Ib up and ran off. Before I could follow, I lost another petal thanks to the same statue. 6/10. My entire body started feeling sore.

I ran after Ib and Mary, who ran the wrong way, by the way and grabbed the two, carrying them a little away before I needed to drop them. We were chased by statues and paintings, mannequins not only blocking paths, but blocking some of our ways.

On top of all thinks my stamina was running low. How Ib managed to still stand was way beyond me. Speaking off, the girl got all bossy again, grabbing Mary's and my hand and making a dash for the exit.

We ran a little while until I stumbled and landed on the ground, breathing for a few seconds. "Now THAT'S what I call a close call." I couldn't help but laugh a little maniacally. "Oh shit...ehehehe..." Suddenly I heard a thud sound. Looking to my side was Ib collapsed on the ground.

"IB!" I shouted getting up, ignoring my protesting body. Mary was already at her side. "Ib wake up, Ib! IB!" she shouted, teary eyed.

"She's...exhausted." I was still catching my breath. "Damn it! This is all my fault! If only I wouldn't have panicked!" I slammed my fist on the ground. "Ib...her rose, it needs water!" Mary shouted. I nodded. "Let's look around!"

I stood up and carried Ib bridal style. With40 % of my strength missing, it was quite the exercise carrying the 6 year old girl. However with Mary's gaze on me, I got really motivated to carry her into the next room. Mary had a serious face the entire time I carried Ib and her face remained when I put her down in the little room, while Mary put the red rose into the vase. It was out of water, but Ib was in good condition.

"Ib! Why won't you wake up?! Ib..." Mary placed herself next to the girl. I unloaded a bunch of stuff from my vest, wondering how I was able to carry it all the whole time and placed it over Ib as a blanket, like Garry did in the original game.

"She just needs some rest. It's a wonder she managed to go on. I can tell you, she's really special." I let out a sigh. "Mary?"

"Hmm?"

I put my hand on her shoulder and lowered my head. "I'm sorry for panicking. I put us all into danger. If I wouldn't have panicked, Ib wouldn't have gotten injured." I let out another sigh. "I'm pathetic, right?"

"You're more than just pathetic." Mary replied. I felt like I had been shot.

"Ouch, even adults need comfort you know?" I said, blinking and chuckled. "I'll make it up, I promise." I held out my hand. This was serious. Mary would remember this and use it against me. Still it was the right thing to do and I've never felt that guilty before in my life.

The blonde looked at my hand for a few seconds, before shaking it. I just made a pact with the devil. I could see a hint of malice in Mary's eyes, since I paid attention. But it was gone soon and replaced by her usual smile. Ib meanwhile seemed to have a nightmare, judging by her facial expression.

"What's wrong with her?" Mary asked. Did Mary ever sleep? "She's having a nightmare. No wonder after all she'd been through."

I was barely keeping myself together. I'd have broken down already if not for Ib. I noticed Ib was my motivator to go on, no matter how much I got hurt or how many petals I lost.

"Ib..." Mary stroke through her hair. The sleeping girl's expression immediately softened. I smiled as I saw this. "Mary..." Ib whispered in her sleep, surprising me. Mary was delighted to hear Ib whispering her name and continued stroking through the brunettes' hair. She hummed the title melody of Ib the game, which creped me out. I placed myself against the wall, where I could keep an eye on those two and the door. I was too exhausted to search the room for anything.

I waited for what seemed like a few hours. During that period Mary never left Ib's side or even dared to look away from her. I got bored and took the next best book from the shelf. It was a crime roman. Not my favorite series, but it helped me killing time.

"Ib!" Mary's scream got me off from the book. I put it away and walked over to the girls. "Feeling better?" I asked. Ib nodded, smiling at me and Mary. The blonde giggled in delight and hugged Ib. I feared she'd strangle the other girl to death. I slowly got up, stretching my limps a little. "We'll stay here a little longer. I think after this we all need some time to recover. Oh and Ib?" I crouched down in front of her. "I already apologized to Mary, but I figured I should do the same to you. Sorry that I panicked back in the room with the sofa." I sighed "I'm the adult here. I should have kept my cool and lead you two into safety and not getting you injured. I'm sorry."

Ib didn't say anything. She just smiled and nodded accepting my apology. I smiled and got up. This was the best time to come up with what I planned from the beginning. "I got a little surprise for you two. Just a sec."

Don't ask me how I was able to carry the whole stuff this entire time. I took the things out of the shelf, where I placed them and got back to the girls. Before I entered the gallery, I bought a bag full of different sweets and three cola cans.

"Don't ask how I kept the whole stuff secure." I placed everything on the ground and sat down. "I was in a sweet shop, before I entered the exhibition. Not healthy food, but I guess once in a while a few sweets can't hurt right?"

I opened the sweet bag, the two still looking at it, baffled. "Come on, no need to be modest." I grinned. I expected Mary to grab as much as she could, but she hesitated almost as much as Ib did. Don't tell me she can't taste things as long as she's a painting?

She took one thing with two waffles and chocolate between them, slowly unwrapping the colorful paper. I watched in amusement as she lead it towards her mouth and started chewing. Her eyes grew wide, totally surprised. "This is amazing! It's so sweet!" she shouted on top of her lungs. "Ib, you have to try this. Can I have more?!" she asked, but was already grabbing for the next few things.

Laughing I took some myself or else I wouldn't get anything. Mary wolfed everything down. One time she forgot to remove the paper. Ib ate slowly and shyly like she was doing something she wasn't allowed. I wondered how much sweets she was allowed to have at home. When the sweets were half finished, I got thirsty. I tapped 40 times on my can, since it was probably totally shaken up.

Ib looked at me confused. "Why are you doing this?" she asked with her small voice. Mary looked over to me, who decided instead of wolfing down, she would enjoy the sweets.

"Well this thing is totally shaken up, after all we went through. When I open it now, half of the cola is going to splutter on my face. When I do this enough times I can open it, without getting soaked with coke."

Well it wasn't enough. Some of the liquid still got on my face and Mary had the time of her life.

I noticed one chocolate bar you could share with a friend. I didn't like that kind of chocolate so I decided to do something else with it. "Does any of you want it? I don't like that thing." I said.

Mary shook her head, chewing down her own chocolate. Ib looked to the side. I smiled and put it into on her lap. "You can have it." I said and resumed to my cola, trying to decide whether I should eat more or save up a little for later. Oh well, maybe there was no later. Scary thought.

"Mary?" Ib spoke up. I glanced over and noticed Ib had broken the chocolate and handed Mary the other small bar. "For me? Thank you!" she squealed. "Ummm, I have to give something in return right? Uhhh..." she sweatdropped as she saw almost everything she got was eaten up. I suppressed a laugh. "Ah!" Mary found some jelly babies she had yet to open up the plastic and handed it over to Ib. She blushed, but took it anyway. "Thank you." she almost whispered.

Mary giggled and ate her chocolate. "Seb, gimme one of the cans. Gimme, gimme, gimme!" she shook me repeatedly. "Whoa, whoa! M-Mary stop! Jeez, are you sugar high? Here you go." I gave her the second can.

"Oh yeah Ib, here's yours. Luckily I bought three of them." Yeah, luckily I planned ahead at least a little bit. I just didn't thought we'd share this here. And I really didn't expect to be able to carry it all along the way. When I bought it, I didn't thought that I would be chased the whole gallery.

"Oh yeah, I read when friends come together like this, they have a 'toast'."

"Just HOW much did you read up?" I asked Mary. I shook my head. "But it's a pretty good idea. Just...on what should we make a toast?" I asked.

"Uh...I have no idea." Mary said sheepishly. I facepalmed.

"Ib any ideas?" Mary and I asked at the same time. We looked at each other confused and then to Ib again. The girl was thinking for a little while. I just realized unofficially she's our leader. The two of us depend on her.

"Our friendship." she suddenly said. We looked each at one another and nodded. "Alright, to our friendship." I raised my can. The other two followed and we made the toast. I didn't mention my can was already empty.

For whatever reason there was a trash can nearby and we put everything in. I was about to put my vest on, when my rose fell out.

"Woops, don't wanna lose that one." I picked it up, when Ib gasped. "Your rose...!"

"Hmm? Oh yeah, got a few hits. Don't worry. I still got more petals, than you have." I ruffled her hair. Ib was not convinced.

"You're not going to drag me to the next vase again, are you?" I asked amused. I remembered the bookshelves I still had to inspect and wanted to start, when I suddenly yawned. "Wow, how long are we here? Half a day? A day?" I asked.

"Are you tired?" Ib asked. I nodded. "Yeah, still haven't really recovered to be honest." I was really tired. The break had been good and all, but it didn't replace sleep. While food and water became a mere luxury as we entered the gallery, sleep was still necessary.

It was Ib's turn to let out a yawn. I was remembered she only slept around 30 minutes, maybe a bit longer. "Ib, are you tired too?" Mary asked. Ib nodded. "I guess it is decided. Won't do us any good if we try to escape in our exhausted state. Here" I handed over my vest. "You think the two of you manage to get under it?" I asked. Mary was totally delighted by the idea.

"Yay! I read about it! It's called a sleepover, right?" she asked. I laughed. "This is more like camping, but you're not too far off."

"What about you?" Ib asked.

"Don't worry about me." I waved off. Mary was already getting ready. Ib silently placed herself next to Mary. I experimented a bit and then finally found a way my vest covered both of their bodies pretty good. They just had to snuggle together.

"Goodnight, Mary, Ib."

"Goodnight, Mary, Seb."

"Goodnight Ib, Seb."

XXX

...

...

...

"This is harder than I thought." I mumbled, trying not to wake up the two other girls with my habit. The ground was pretty hard and since my arms were exposed, they cooled down from the outside, which was uncomfortable.

In order to keep more heat inside my body, I curled up in a ball. I listened to the soft and steady breaths of the other girls and tried to fall asleep from the simple sound of that.

It eventually worked.

XXX

_Mary centric POV for this part_

I was a painting, I didn't need sleep. Still I somehow managed to fall asleep. Having Ib next to me was really comfortable. In her sleep she put both arms around me and I smiled. I knew she liked me more than Seb. But still she liked him too.

I looked over and found him curled up in a ball, slightly shivering. Actually I didn't mind him that much. He gave me sweets and I was surprised I actually tasted them. He was nice to the both of us. But someone needed to be left behind, this was the rule of the gallery.

I knew Ib would forget him once we were outside, so my only problem was getting rid of him without Ib noticing I was involved. I knew the gallery inside out and there was a place which immediately came into my mind. From there on we only needed to be faster than him or maybe I should sat a trap.

I heard a groan and saw Seb getting up. "Seriously..." he muttered. He often talked to himself or made strange comments, I was used to it already. He picked up his rose and inspected it, not noticing I was awake and watching him, my eyes covered by the hood of his vest.

"Game...I wonder if it really is just me or if really everyone else who downloaded it gets sucked in."

What was he talking about? He glanced over and I immediately shut my eyes. "How am I gonna tell you two?" he asked. I knew he was thinking we were still asleep. I just was curious what he was mumbling about.

I heard some sounds. I opened my eyes again and found him looking at the newspaper pieces again. He eventually shoved them away and lay down. He moved every now and then, trying to find a position he could fall asleep again. I had enough.

"You're going to wake Ib up." I whisper-growled. Seb looked over. "Oh, sorry, did I wake you up?" he asked in a whisper tone.

"You did." I lied. He looked apologetic. "Sorry."

Behind me Ib made some moves, but stopped. She was now very close to me. I liked it. Seb placed himself up and chuckled for reasons I didn't get.

"She really likes you." he said smiling. "Hey you read a lot of stuff about friendship and stuff I noticed. Does that mean you never had any friends?" he asked. The question caught me a little off guard, but I answered it. "Not really." I replied, feeling the loneliness going through me once again.

"Oh...sorry. Shouldn't have asked." he looked over to Ib. "Once this is all over, you and Ib can play each day." he smiled. "I would too, if not for the fact your parents would get skeptical when a boy at my age would hang out with girls at your age."

Parents. I never had any parents. I had been alone. All alone.

"Mary" I looked up. Seb looked troubled all of the sudden. "Forget it. Sorry I disturbed your sleep. I try to be calmer from now on."

He curled up into a ball and fell asleep quickly this time. Suddenly I felt bad lying to him and I felt bad to leave him behind. But they wouldn't stay would way? They wouldn't stay if they knew I was a painting. They would leave me and I would be all alone.

I turned to Ib, just noticing the tears in my eyes. She noticed them too and wiped them off. "Nightmare?" she asked. I nodded. I lied again. How much more did I have to lie? My life was a living nightmare.

She pulled me even closer and drew circles on my back. "Mary" she began we'll be together, won' we? You won't leave me, like everyone else?"

Ib was alone too? And she wanted to be with me? But that was only because she didn't knew I was a painting.

"Ib, if only two of us could leave, who would you chose?"

Ib wasn't ready for this question, but I needed to know. I needed the answer. "I would look for a way we all could leave."

I stared at her. She would look for a way for all of us to go out. But it was impossible. I would have left on my own already if it was possible. "Mary" Ib began again "we're friends. And friends never leave each other, right?" she asked.

I nodded.

"Then let's hope we all can escape." I suddenly heard Seb behind me. My fake heart was racing. Wait, I never had a heartbeat. I never could taste and I never could feel anything at all. Why now?

"If not, you two don't mind if I take the sofa?" he joked. Ib giggled and Seb chuckled. Eventual I started to giggle too and soon we all erupted in laughter. Afterwards we were so exhausted we all fell asleep, Ib in front of me and Seb behind me. I really fell asleep as if I was human.


	6. Chapter 6

**6)Signs of the future**

"Rules of the art gallery: no loud conversations, photography, food or drink, touching the displays, fountain pens, no leaving ever. Now THAT is reassuring."

The other two were still asleep and I was looking around. I found another small piece. It was the first part of the title.

_SCANDAL IN THE COURTROOM! CHILD MURDERER..._

Yeah, I just wished I knew who this paper was referring to. Garry? Did I make him a murderer? That would be sick. But hey it said not guilty.

I looked over to the two girls and sighed. My time in telling them where I came from was running out. But was it really good to tell them now? Or should I wait until the very last moment? I felt like I was betraying them. By the way, I found a massage for me in one of the books.

**"Traitor, Liar, XXXXXXXX!"**

The last word was blackened. What's up with that? How's this supposed to scare me?

I walked over to the two and waited for them to wake up. I couldn't sleep. It didn't matter how tired I was I needed a bed or at least my vest to cover my arms. I didn't like any of my skin exposed, the reason I wore a vest until 30 degree in Celsius.

Ib was the first one to wake up. Seeing as Mary was still asleep, I mouthed her a good morning. "Ib..." Mary was mumbling in her sleep. We both looked down to the painted girl.

"Don't leave me...please...I just...want a friend."

Didn't know both of them talked in their sleep. Suddenly Mary jerked up in horror, panting heavily. "Ib!" she exclaimed as she saw the girl. Next she wrapped both arms around the other girl, who seemed to be a little in pain.

None the less, Ib hugged back.

"Another nightmare?" I asked. She didn't answer. Sighing I stood up and walked a few steps to get blood into my legs. I haven't used them properly for a few hours. Strange enough I didn't felt full anymore, but I wasn't hungry and didn't need the bathroom.

Mary eventually broke up and was her usual self again, smiling and clutching to Ib's hand. "Alright, let's get out of here."

I showed them the new article I found and we walked outside. The steps down and within seconds we were in the purple gallery. We came across a door, which was locked. Now that I looked around, I couldn't belief we were already so close to the end. Well, Ib was a freeware game. Just as I thought about how it would soon end, we found a text on the wall.

**"We prepared something special for you, Seb."**

"For Seb?" Mary asked and looked at me.

"I don't like the sound of it. What have I done to deserve this?

...

Forget I asked."

Ib and Mary gave me curious looks, especially Mary. There was a trap with a maze and three statues. As I tested it, I found invisible walls, making climbing over the cords impossible. There was a small bookshelf and I decided to go in alone. I was trapped and chased by a statue. First I checked the shelf, but all I found was a diary. There were three pictures on the walls with knobs. I accidently activated two other statues, until I found the right one. Still I managed to get out without a scratch.

"Let's see what we found."

Basically the diary explained how when someone put all his efforts into his work it becomes alive. "Someone took this way too serious."

We walked the hallway up and came across the milk puzzle.

"Milk puzzle. Do you girls know what a milk puzzle is?" I asked. Ib shook her head and Mary answered with: "No."

"It's basically like a normal puzzle, just it is completely white. Milk puzzles are more challenging, since you can't use the picture to help yourself, but honestly I prefer normal puzzles. At least in the end you feel like you actually accomplished something."

We walked on and found a painting called "Fleeting thoughts on a moonlit night".

"This is so pretty!" Marry cheered. "What's that tree?" she asked.

"A cherry tree. You find a lot of them in Japan. Back at a school near my house were three of them. I never liked the cherries, but I still ate them, because the others did it. Oh man, I was one messed up kid."

We walked on and found a mirror which destroyed itself as we went passed it. We gave each other uncomfortable looks. We found a door which led to a small room. There was a statue blocking the exit.

"Guess it's my job again." Despite being weakened, I actually managed it. There was a cord and we pulled it. Nothing happened.

"Boring." Mary commented.

We walked through the now free door and found a shortcut. Also we found new text which was a question about the name of the large painting on the ground.

"Abyss of the Deep. I still remember it." I told them. "A password?" Ib asked. "Maybe." I shrugged. "Let's check it out!" Mary cheered and we followed her back until we came across a door, which needed the password.

We entered the room. Three bookshelves were on each side at the end of the room, in the middle was the painting Separation.

"A cliff? Well I guess if you- AHH!" the lights went out. "Ib, Mary, you still there?"

"I'm not here." Ib replied.

"Wut?"

Mary burst out laughing at Ib's comment and even Ib giggled a bit. "Am I the only one uncomfortable in the dark? Can someone turn on the light? Uff, where's my lighter?"

I was still searching in my pockets as the lights turned on and we all let out a shriek. There were writings in red, yellow and blue.

**Red: "We don't want you. Alone. Don't come. Go home."**

**Yellow: "Not real. Forever. Won't somebody come? Don't leave me. Don't kill me."**

**Blue: "Liar. Traitor. Not needed. Not worth. Leave. Murderer."**

"What the..." I barely suppressed the 'fuck'.

"Wh-wh-what is this?" Mary asked shaken. Ib was grabbing Mary's arm with both hands. There was a visible pattern here. "I think I understand. Well almost." I said with non emotion in my voice.

"Huh?" Mary looked up. I walked around and stopped by the word 'murderer'. "I don't get this word, but everything else...don't you see a pattern?" I asked.

The two looked around once more. "Well...the words are either red, yellow or blue." Mary said. "Like our roses." Ib added. I nodded my face getting all serious. "Exactly." I walked to them and looked around.

"These are our greatest fears. Each word in our rose color has a special meaning for us. But I don't get this." I pointed over to 'murderer'.

"I can assure you, I never killed someone and my memory is clear. There's no suppressed memory of me killing someone." I said. I noticed Ib and Mary keeping some distance from me. I let out a sigh. Maybe I shouldn't have given the explanation.

"Not real?" Ib asked. Mary flinched visible as Ib read the words aloud. "Let's not press on this. I am sure every one of us has something we don't want the rest to know. Still..." I walked over to murderer. "I don't get it. I'm 100 % sure I never killed anyone."

"Seb?" I heard Ib behind me. I turned around and saw her worried face. "Let's go out."

I nodded and we all walked outside. Ib took Mary's hand and smiled reassuringly. Mary was the one most shaken from the room, probably in fear of her secret being exposed. "I don't care what you hide. I will be your friend forever. You too Seb."

I stopped in my tracks. Mary and I stared at her for several seconds. Hell the fabricated world called me murderer and she still wanted to be my friend?! I would immediately get all vary and ready to make a mad dash.

Mary was the first one to break down and hugged Ib crying into her shoulder. I got all teary eyed too. "Damn it Ib! You're something else!" I said, wiping the tears out of my face.

We finally walked on, Ib holding Mary's and my hand, until we found blood traces, which lead to a door, which hadn't been there before. "Just what we needed." I tensed up and went ahead opening the door carefully. "All safe." I assured and we walked through. We found a vase and I put my rose in.

"MUCH better." I exclaimed. A painting 'Force of Quarrel', a locked door and another painting: Flowers of Jealousy. It would happen soon. I remembered the layout. Soon we'd get separated.

We entered the next room and all I saw were a bunch of disturbing dolls. Creepy as fuck. I wonder what it was they prepared for me.

"Ahh!" Mary exclaimed.

"They're so cute! Don't you think so too Ib?"

"Can...I pet one?" she asked. Must. Resist. Urge. To. Run. Away.

"Must be a girl-thing." I managed to bring out. We inspected everything and found another newspaper piece.

_"No one could belief their own eyes. Yet again the child murderer escaped justice, as the judge announced his verdict:"_

"That fits with the very first piece I found." I said. Slowly I got it all together. Huh, I had the headline and the beginning of the text, but it didn't fit. "Looks like there's a photo here too. It could tell us who it is, the text is talking about."

I heard suddenly glass shattering, although I only saw a doll on the ground. Ib picked up a key and we walked outside. I put my hand on Mary's shoulder unconsciously. "Seb?" she asked. I looked down and smiled at her. "Sorry, the tension must be going through with me." I told her. "If you say so." she replied.

As we were about to walk out, Ib suddenly stopped and walked over to one of the tables in this room. "What's wrong Ib?" Mary asked and walked over to where Ib was standing. "Ah, cards! Let's play!" the blonde cheered.

A little distraction wouldn't hurt was my guess, so I walked over and looked at the cards. A smile crept onto my face. "Tarot Cards!"

"What cards?" Mary asked. "I already explained it to Ib. They're supposed to tell the future. You shuffle the deck, pick a card and depending on which card you draw and in what position it is, it tells you what will happen in your life. Wanna try it out?" I asked.

"Yeah!" Mary was totally excited. "You too Ib, right?" Ib nodded. God this was very exciting.

I shuffled the deck. "Okay Mary, draw a card." She did and looked at it and then showed it to us.

"21, the World in the upright position. It stands for the end of a journey. You'll reach an important goal in your life and overall you'll be satisfied."

"R-really?" she stammered. I nodded. "That's what the card says. You're one lucky girl, finding your answer to life at this young age. Urrgh, I played too much persona. Anyways, Ib, it's your turn." I shuffled the deck. Hesitantly Ib drew a card and gasped, her cheeks getting totally red. Confused Mary and I looked at it. I laughed my ass off.

"6, the Lovers in the upright position. I don't think I need to explain this one, right?" I bent over laughing. "What's so funny?" Mary asked. I snickered. "Just the way Ib reacted to the card, like there IS actually SOMEONE. Hey, do you girls know what yuri is?" I laughed as they asked me what it meant, but I didn't explain it. It has been in my mind for some time, but now I had the proof.

"Alrighty, my turn." I shuffled the deck really good and drew my own future. I didn't look at it straight. "Normally I prefer surprises, but let's see what I got. JACKPOT! My favorite card!"

"What is it?" Mary asked excitingly. I grinned a little insanely and showed them my card.

"D-d-death?" Ib asked her voice shaking. I ruffled her hair. "Could be worse. Tower is the worst card you can get in Tarot. Death is actually a neutral card."

"Neutral? It's DEATH. D-E-A-T-H! Why's this your favorite card?!" Mary exclaimed. Somehow our roles were reversed. I was the insane guy and she was the sane one.

"Well number 13 Death stands for the end of the old, to let go of the old to be precise. It also stands for a new beginning. It doesn't mean I'll die or anything. It just stands for something new will soon begin in my life. Whether it is good or bad I can't say now. I'll have to see it. And you know, judging from what happened so far in this gallery, this all might come true."

"D-don't say this. You might die and..."

I blinked once.

I blinked twice.

I blinked trice.

Was Mary actually worried about _me?_

I bet I misheard. Must be because of the internet withdrawal I'm going through.

I ruffled hers and Ib's hair and bent down to the two. "Now listen even if it really comes true, it doesn't mean I'm going to die. Death stands for a new beginning and the stop of something old. The whole Tarot deck was laid out to describe the journey of an entire lifespan. Okay? I won't die or anything." I stood up.

"Let's get going before a painting with killing intent finds us."

We walked outside. Mary was in the middle of the two of us, clenching to Ib's and my hand. Did I actually managed it? Did I win her trust?

My thoughts were interrupted by the painting Flowers of Jealousy as a strange sound came out of it. Something inside my memory was tingling. Something was about to happen, something bad.

"Oh shit, MOVE!"

I threw Ib and Mary just in time to the other side, before vines made of stone broke through the ground. I totally forgot that was the way we would get separated! "Ib, Mary, you okay?" I shouted.

"Yeah!" came Mary's reply. "And you?"

"Well my heartbeat is steady, my body is still working, my rose got all petals...I'm as alive as a colaholic can be without cola."

"What?"

"I made up the word. You still have the key right?"

"Yes!" Ib replied.

"I hate to suggest it, but it looks like we need to split up."

"B-but...!" Ib didn't find the right words.

"It's a dead end! There's nowhere for you to go!" Mary shouted.

"Come on girls! I think this world has proven more than one time to us not everything is as it seems. I'll look around in the room a little more, while you check the other one, 'kay?"

...

"Seb!"

"Yeah Mary?"

"I...I...be careful!"

What was that tone in her voice?

"You too. And of course you as well Ib."

"..."

"I can't here you!"

"Okay!"

"That's the spirit! Let's show the gallery what we're made off!"

Ib and Mary left for the other room and I walked back to the doll room. I shivered as I felt all the gazes falling onto me. Now how did it go on from here? I didn't remember, so I wasted some time looking around. There was still the Tarot deck on the table. I decided to take it with me as a souvenir.

**"T-H-I-E-F!"**

"Ah! Completely forgot about that one too..."

One negative point for me.

I finally found the exit. FINALLY, this room was really getting to me. I was in another small room with five cords. Okay, which was the right one? A/N: the following happened on my first play through.

First cord: lights out.

"What the fuck!?

..."

The lights were on again. I looked around, but nothing changed. I pulled the next rope: lights out.

"Oh come on, this is getting old."

Lights on.

The third rope. I heard a sound, but nothing more. Guess I chose the right one. From here on out I could do nothing more, but wait. Suddenly a triangle shaped rock fell to the ground.

"WHAT SO SHIIIiiieeet. That was close..." I breathed out.

So what was I supposed to do with that thing? I was lost for a few minutes until I found something on the ground. A few holes. The feet of the rock should fit in. I pushed it over and I had a path opened for me.

Now this section I remembered. It was where I would go for a very long while, being chased by one of those disturbing dolls. Yup there it was, with the text above it. It wore a pink dress.

Fail?

**"I hope you like what we prepared for you."**

This was NOT supposed to stand there.

...!

The walls were getting closer.

"FUCK YOU ALL!" I ran as fast as I could. This was way worse than they show in the movies. After this I would surely have two things: nightmares and claustrophobia.

I made it to the first corner. The doll was there, waiting for me.

**"Good. Level 2."**

"Just fuck you!"

Spitting faces were on the wall. Luckily I was used to running away from my childhood, but my stamina was never really great. I lost two petals in the process.

**"Level 3."**

Arms came out of the walls, but the walls were slower. Actually I went through it unharmed.

**"Level 4. Can you do it?"**

Like level 3, but the walls were at normal speed. Did I mention the hands had claws?! I lost 4 petals! With each loss I got a little slower. This was really getting to me. I had nightmares of almost dying , but this was ten times worse and along with the adrenaline the only thing which kept me going.

I stumbled and fell to the ground as I managed to get into the safe room. The adrenaline was leaving my body and I felt the pain going through my body. There should be a vase nearby, but thinking logically? After what I went through?!

I curled up in a ball and started crying. The first part I was able to endure somehow, the other parts I was with Ib and Mary. But now...

It was coming all out, I couldn't hold it back anymore. Must have been quite the sight, a 20 year old guy curled up in a ball like a baby and crying like he was a 6 year old child.

"I wanna go home."

This was the only sentence that came out. Sure I promised Ib and Mary we'd stay together, sure I wanted Ib and Mary out, but everything was forgotten as my body was aching from the pain and I tried to calm my mind down via crying. I kept on crying for what seemed like forever and I even fell asleep at one point.

_...was brought there by the defendant as he was always welcomed by the family as a friend. He used it on several occasions, the reasons for his fingerprints being there. It was the first case fingerprints were found and prosecutor XXXXX XXXXXX thought this would be his breakthrough._

I woke up, feeling completely sore, with this new piece lying in front of me.

**"Your reward. This is way more exciting than the original game, don't you think?"**

I swear if the doll would have been there, I'd have burned it to crisps. My lighter was completely filled. I could burn down the entire gallery if I wanted. And after what I went through, I was tempted to do so.

I managed to get to the vase in this room, which luckily was a blue one. I turned around. I'd get these stupid dolls for this somehow. But for now, I needed to look around and hopefully remember what I had to do.


	7. Chapter 7

**7) The secret of the books revealed**

**A/N: This entire chapter is from Mary's POV. I didn't want to write all this stuff here now, but the canon story ain't that long if you write it all down. I had to do it. Don't worry; I got some extras aside from the canon. I mean, how the well will they manage to escape together IF they manage at all? It is far from over, no matter what happens here.**

**P.S.: I already decided on the ending. Kekeke, you won't be able to guess it. It's a little surprise.**

"Let's go Ib." I took her hand and smiled reassuringly. She smiled back and we walked into a storage room. "Let's check those boxes out!" I announced. So we split up and looked around for anything that could be useful.

There were a lot of painting utensils. In one box were a lot of colors, but the red one was missing for some reason. Hmm?

"Hey Ib, I found a pallet knife! You think we can use it to get through the spikes?" I asked her. She looked up from and looked at the knife in my hand.

"...I doubt it." she said.

"You're right, they're made of stone.

...

I'll keep it, just in case you know."

Don't make me use it against you Ib. This is our only chance. We cannot escape together.

!

Suddenly the lights started to flicker and it got dark.

"Huh?"

When the lights were on again, the path from where we came from was blocked by a headless statue. "What?"

Ib and I walked over to the statue, which was blocking the way. Ib looked troubled and a little scared by what she saw.

"Come on Ib! We'll do it together! One, two, THREE!"

We pushed and pushed or more I acted like I was pushing. If I would use my whole strength, she would notice something was wrong with me. "It's no use." I panted or at least acted like I needed to catch my breath. I waited for Ib to recover. She looked over to me with a troubled expression. I gave her a bright smile.

"Let's think positive! There's gotta be another way!" I cheered. Ib nodded. I took her hand and walked over to the door. When we crossed a corner, we found a ball of paint rolling down the staircase and hitting the wall. The 'Clown' painting had lost its nose.

The next room had a hole in the middle, too big for us to simply jump over. At least for Ib. There was a painting on the wall, hanging on a rope with two eyes.

We were still searching for a way to get the painting down, as suddenly the painting fell down and made a bridge for us. Ib stared intently at the painting for a long time. "Ib, are you alright?" I asked.

She looked up, her eyes empty and stared intently into my eyes. "Ib...? Are you alright?" This wasn't a human sickness, right?

Her eyes returned to normal and I was relieved. She scared me there for a second. "Can we cross over?" she asked the painting, who blinked two times and closed its eyes.

"Guess so!" I cheered.

We carefully walked over. There was a box moving and Ib went towards it curiously. "Ib, let's not open it, okay?" I said. She nodded. I had been leaning against a triangle shaped rock, which moved all of the sudden. "Whoa!" I fell to the ground.

"Mary! Are you alright?" Ib asked, crouching down next to me. It made me really happy how Ib cared about me. "I'm fine, just tripped." She helped me up. The rock fell into the whole.

"WHAT SO SHIIIIIIIIIIIiiiiii..."

We gasped as we heard the scream. "That was Seb! Ooops, I guess I threw the rock...down to him. He must have found another way."

Ib seemed relieved to know Seb was okay. I suddenly felt stitches in my heart. I never felt that before. It hurt, but in a different way than the loneliness I was used to. I took Ib's hand. "Let's go." I said a little harsher, than I wanted.

We walked into a very long hallway.

"Ib" I began "you said if only two of us could leave, you'd look for a way for all of us to go out. But...what if there was no other way? Who would you chose? Seb or me?" I asked. My heart was racing. I was still not used to the fact that it was beating at all.

Ib stopped in her tracks and turned around. She looked troubled at the question and my heart was racing like there was no tomorrow. "I'd stay with you." she answered.

"...Really?"

Ib nodded.

I jumped and hugged her tightly. "Thank you." I whispered. At least...I wouldn't be alone, when the ugly truth was out. If it really came out. After all...I did prepare a trap for Seb. Suddenly I felt really guilty for doing so.

But what about me? Didn't I deserve to get out?

Ib broke me out of my thoughts, as she took my hand and smiled at me reassuringly. Please Ib stop. Don't make me feel anymore guilty.

We walked further the hallway down. It was a very long way and with each step my heart grew heavier and heavier. "Mary?" I looked up and found Ib looking at me worried. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah I'm alright. Righty right, I'm alrighty, righty, righty, alrighty right."

Breath in, breath out Mary. Ib likes you more than Seb. She chose you over him. You'll get rid of him, comfort Ib and you two will be together forever.

"Mary" Ib took my hand with both hands. "I'm here." she simply said. It were just simple words, but it made my heat skip several beats. We walked the hallway down until we finally reached a room. Ib and I checked several doors, but found only one open. The room was full of mannequin heads on tables. I found a key in it.

One door was locked and the other required a special password. It showed a picture of a dark sky and stars on it. "We need to know the name of the painting." I frowned. "Ib did you see it in the art gallery?" I asked. I didn't remember the name of the painting. Ib shook her head.

We looked around, but only found a new newspaper piece. But since Seb wasn't here, he couldn't read it out for us or explain some words. The letters were too small for us to read and it would take ages for us to read it, so Ib put it in her pocket.

She went over to where the vase was standing. I wondered why, since her rose had all the petals. "Ib, we didn't check this door." I pointed out. "What? Where's the color?"

It was all black and white. A brush and a canvas were flying in mid-air before a painting, like someone was holding it. In the middle of the room was a hole and on the other side was a key lying on a pillar.

We walked back, as there was nothing we could do at the moment. Ib walked over to the vase and took the book next to it.

"There's nothing written inside." I never understood why those books were everywhere. There was never anything inside. I thought about using them as sketchbooks more than one time.

Ib gasped and dropped the book. I lifted an eyebrow and walked over to her. There was actually something written in it! The letters were in red.

_We're now separated. I don't like it, but at least I have Mary with me. I now know why my heart starts racing every time I walked close to her and why I am so angry at Seb when she talks to him. I love her. I found out when Seb let me draw the tarot card._

_I'm worried about her. She's acting strange and asked me another uncomfortable question. Something is wrong with Mary and I want to help her, but I'm afraid to ask. She scares me, but at the same time I want to be with her forever and ever._

It went on, but I stopped reading. This looked like a diary.

I looked over to Ib, who had a terrified expression her face. She looked like...like...

"Ib...is this all true?" I asked. She never wrote anything inside this book or any other book, I knew that much. She was shaking a little and nodded. She...loved me. I could barely belief what I heard or rather read.

"Ib..." Said girl looked to the side, her cheeks reddened. She was shy again.

Somehow it hurt me seeing Ib like that. I wanted to make her _feel better. _But how?

I came closer to her and hugged her. She looked up and our faces were only inches away. "Feel better Ib. I want you to feel _good._" I whispered. I could feel her breath on my face. It was like we were in trance. Our faces came closer and closer until our lips met.

Her lips were so sweet. Not sweet like the candy Seb gave us, but more a different kind of sweet and I liked it. I _loved _it. I loved her. "I love you Ib."

She kissed again, but this time it lasted longer and she pushed me a little away. Eventually we had to break up in order to catch our breath. "Stay with me forever." Ib started to cry. Strange I wanted to say the same thing.

I placed her head on my chest, as I stroke through her hair. "Ib...we'll be together forever."

"Together forever." she echoed.

We stayed this way for a long time until Ib looked up. "We need to look around." she said. "We could stay here." I said. "We won't age and we could play every day and be together forever." I wanted to get out, but more importantly I wanted to be with Ib. Ib was everything in my mind.

She looked down a little guilty. "Mary...I love you, but...I miss my parents." she whispered. "Don't you miss yours too?" she asked. My heart ached a little bit.

"I don't have any parents. I never had anyone. I was all alone." I pressed her against me and started sobbing. "Don't leave me Ib. Please, I don't want to be alone anymore." I sniffed. Before I could cry, Ib pressed her lips against my own.

"We'll go out together." she said and resumed to the book, one arm wrapped around me. I followed her gaze. "Is this everything you thought during your time here?" I asked. She nodded.

We flipped some pages and came to something which was written in blue. "This must be Seb. Maybe we can check on how he's doing." And if my trap already got rid of him.

_It is official. I really fell into a video game. Or rather I got sucked into a video game. And now I'm here in the painted world of Guertena who died because of unknown reasons. Okay, things I need to do: find Ib, get Mary NOT to kill me and find a way out for all of us. Mary may be a painting, but she's way too cool to die. Funny I still have a lighter to burn her. I sure hope this won't happen. But how the heck are we going to escape all together? I don't think I have the guts to sacrifice myself. Stupid video game logic._

I stared at what was written down there. This couldn't be true, it couldn't! Why did we read it? Why didn't I stop her?! Now she would leave me. NO!

She can't leave me, not now. Ib is MINE!

"A painting...not real..." Ib mumbled. I looked at her and took my pallet knife out. Ib gasped, but stood still. "You promised you we would together forever. Right?" I asked. "Forever Ib. You won't break a promise? We're friends. _Lovers."_

She didn't say anything. She looked at me with those empty eyes of hers. MY empty eyes! She was mine! Every hair, every limb, every drop of blood was MINE! Now and **FOREVER!**

Suddenly she wrapped her other arm around me and pressed my body against hers, her lips met my own. I dropped the pallet knife in shock. I kissed back and pressed her against the wall with my overwhelming strength. I was the last painting ever finished, meaning I was the strongest.

Ib didn't fight back, she gave in. I had to be careful not to break her bones. Eventually we broke up and we stood there in silence for a while. "There's no way out for all of us." I told her. "One has to stay behind."

Ib took my hand, determination in her eyes. It was the same as when we ran away from the paintings in the grey gallery, where she took the lead. She didn't need to say anything. I knew what she was thinking.

"Okay, but only for you Ib." I told her. She smiled and kissed me. I could get used to this.

"You'll stay with me? Even if there is no other way?" I asked. She nodded. "THANK YOU!" I cheered.

We just noticed, but there was the blue butterfly above us from the painting 'Butterfly Effect'. It flew away after circling over our heads. We both understood what it meant. Seb knew what the future would bring and he changed it because he didn't like it.

We now understood his fears: Liar, Traitor

We decided to read up everything in the book. He knew it from the beginning. He had been somewhere the 'game' didn't show him. He was later saved by Ib, like a guy called Garry. Seb was the replacement to this Garry guy. Up until the grey gallery Seb knew the puzzles, but acted like he didn't knew them.

What we found out was the three of us had to work together in order to progress, but there were no details in what we had to do.

And then Ib read about the trap I sat for Seb. He knew there was one from the very beginning. He knew what it was about and how to solve the puzzle.

I looked down ashamed. Seb had been on my side from the very beginning, although he knew I planned on killing him. I didn't care he was from a world where everything here was just a video game. I didn't care he prepared the sweets and the drinks in order to get our trust.

I felt Ib taking my hand and looked up. "Bad girl Mary." she scolded and pulled me closer. I placed my head on her shoulder and started crying. Ib comforted me and didn't left me. When I was finished I suddenly felt like I was someone else.

Ib took my hand and together we once again explored the entire area. In the room with the mannequin heads I stumbled and accidently threw one of them to the ground. There was a crack now there and red gas was coming out of it.

"Mary!" Ib helped me up, although she knew I was stronger than her. I couldn't have been any more lucky. We walked outside after we found nothing new. Ib carried the book alongside her now and looked through it again. She stopped and pointed at something. I looked at where she pointed. There was some new text.

Seb was looking around and found several paintings. There were no descriptions, but one stuck out which could possibly help us: Marvelous Night. It was the right one. We walked inside a room with a few bookshelves, but nothing which really helped our situation.

Ib sat down and I placed myself next to her.

"Ib...will you really stay with me?" I asked. She nodded and we kissed. I never grew tired of this. We leaned our heads against each other. I took Ib's hands and we stayed like this for a very long time.

XXX

_I'm running out of ideas for this chapter, so I'm doing this._

General POV

Who'd had thought a single butterfly could cause such a tremendous storm? The Ladies in Red, Yellow, Blue, Green and Brown were watching their little sister with the human girl. It had been their idea to bring a human from the far outside world in, so their little sister could be happy.

All that was left to do was to deal with the human. They had a very long discussion with each other as to what to do with him. As they brought him from outside of course the world adapted him in. Now what to do? Should they leave him be? Should they trap him?

Sure some new company would be a nice change. But then they had decided on something which would cause another storm. They planted the green key and he actually found the key! This was so exciting. Would he find the door to which the key belonged?

Red had placed the new newspaper piece into his hand. They had to bait him in order to keep him going. Yellow had laughed over him as he started to cry in the corner. Blue had rolled her eyes at Yellow's antics.

Green and Red watched dreamingly Mary and Ib, probably letting their imaginations run wild. Brown had a thoughtful expression. She knew it was far from over. Seb was angry and he blamed the dolls for what happened. The past minutes he played with his lighter and had been mumbling things she didn't like. His psyche had gotten a lot of damage as he had to endure the last trap all alone.

"What's wrong Brown?" asked Red. Red was the most emotional one, Yellow was annoying, Blue never really cared, Green liked to gossip and Brown was mostly the one using her brain.

"It is about the male human. I don't think he will just play along."

"What do you mean?" asked Red, being scared of the tone Brown's voice had. "He's angry. Do you remember what happened the last time Mary was angry?" Brown asked. Red shivered at the memory. Mary was the strongest painting and when she got angry, all paintings hid from her. The ones who didn't manage were in for a lot of pain.

"But...he's not as strong as Mary."

"He has a lighter. And look at this." Brown showed Red one of the books which memorized the thoughts of the gallery guests.

_I swear if the doll would have been there, I'd have burned it to crisps. My lighter was completely filled. I could burn down the entire gallery if I wanted. And after what I went through, I was tempted to do so._

Red shuddered at the thought of being burned. Destroying the original painting was the only way to kill a painting for good. And being burned alive didn't sound very pleasant. Mary wasn't the only painting who was reading and Red read quite a few novels herself. A lot of them were about crime and she red one about a pyromaniac.

"W-what should we do?" asked read now completely shaken. "We should let calm him down. It will take some time until he solved the riddles and until then he surely calmed down enough, so we can bait him over there. If we do any more to him, he'll start burning down paintings in order to progress. No, let's leave him be for now."

Red nodded. Brown was always correct about such things. The green key was the key to everything, the only question was would he find the door? But what if he didn't calm down and started burning down paintings?

The other paintings wouldn't forgive him and the others would start chasing him, which would lead to his ultimate death. Or theirs.


	8. Chapter 8

**8) Looking for the paintballs**

After I caught myself from my miserable state, I started looking around. A few paintings, but I didn't really give them a close look, being pissed off and all.

There was a room with seven pillars. Oh right, I had to find the seven balls of paint, so Ib and Mary could get a key. Hey slowly I'm starting to remember some stuff. Oh shit, I don't remember the sketchbook puzzles and certainly NOT the extra dungeon. Great, this'll be a 'fun' trip.

I walked out, since there were still several more rooms I had to explore. Locked door? Check. This must be the exit. I found another locked door, but something was different. The doorknob felt strangely cold.

I kicked at the door for good manners. I needed to relief some stress after everything. A part of me started to understand Garry. Still, I'd have preferred the version, where the creepy doll follows me around. At least that wasn't life threatening.

I turned around and something caught the corner of my eye. There was a yellow glimmer. A yellow paintball, which hadn't been there before. After I picked it up, it disappeared like the keys after I used them. Apropos keys.

I grabbed in my pocket and took out the green key. Well of course, according to the rules of this world I needed a green door. But where was that specific door? The green gallery was at the beginning and every door over there was open, I knew that much.

I put the key away after some more thinking. I came across the painting fishing hook, only there was no hook. Right, it needed to be triggered like the paintball, but I didn't remember whether it was me or the girls who needed to trigger it. And...what was the purpose again?

Well I needed to put something on, but what? Shrugging I walked to the next painting, a juggler. And he was really juggling a freaking lot of balls.

"When was I born?" he asked.

"Uff...when were you born, huh?" Now that was difficult. I could not simply change to Ib and Mary to look it up in a book. I knew it was something with the number 6 at the beginning, but what was the rest?

"6532?" I asked. "OW!" It threw a ball at me. "WRONG!"

9/10 petals.

T.

Belief it or not, but at the beginning I started from 6000 and counted up, going to vase and back. At 6032 I had enough. "How am I supposed to...the book." I realized and slapped my forehead. I knew I decided against looking in, but it was either that or a freaking lot of pain.

If I only looked for the numbers, I'd surely not dig too deep into Ib's privacy. Well I was tempted of course to look up what she was really thinking. Hell that girl was more creepy than Mary with her constant silent treatment, now that I thought about it.

I walked over and flipped through the pages until it was blank. Slowly I flipped back, until I found the first writings. I looked up immediately. I had a lot of experience from looking up the reviews of my stories. I'm really AFRAID of reviews, but not getting any is disheartening.

I went over what was written, catching up several words, but nothing to get into a clear context, until I finally found what I was looking for: 6223.

"Holy shit, she confessed!" I slammed the book shut. Ib actually confessed to Mary. Well the part I had been reading, was after she found the number I needed and it went on like this.

_Mary and I didn't found anything. Since we didn't make any progress we decided to cool down our heads and enjoy our alone time. Her hands are so soft and every time we kiss..._

That's where I stopped. Two _freaking six year old girls were _**kissing!**

"Love knows no boundaries. Wonder how her parents would react to this." I'd pay 50 bugs for an Ib version were this actually would happen. The two kissing and the parents catching them in the act. I have already an excuse for them.

"6223"

"RIGHT!"

It threw another ball, but this time not at me. It was the blue ball. Two down, five more to go. Where now? I still had some options. I walked into a room I hadn't been before and immediately regretted it.

"GOD SHIT! The gas room!"

After making the mistake of inhaling a lot of red gas, I put my arm over my mouth. I walked outside and looked at my rose. I lost four petals from inhaling this gas for like three seconds at most! And I needed to go back there.

There was a paintball in there; I knew it without even seeing it, but something else entirely was there too. If only my memory wouldn't be so hazy.

I put my vest over my mouth, took a deep breath and walked inside. Just you know I like diving under water. How does it help me in this situation? From my experience, keeping calm and not making too hasty moves allows you to keep your breath in for longer. If only it would be water and not poison gas I was about to dive in.

I often made the mistake of breathing in or sometimes I just ran out of the room in panic. In short it took me a while until I got the hang of the situation. A very long while.

I lost count as to how many times I've been there, when I slammed the door shut behind me again. I actually went very deep, until I reached the vase in the room, only to notice it was empty. I belief in the game it was impossible to leave, when you went that deep too early, but since I had a brain and kept my breath in, I managed to get out with one petal. I really was about to turn into a masochist. My entire body ached from the poison and I had some trouble getting to the vase. It was like my first time, when I only had one petal left.

"There's gotta be something in there." I mumbled. I walked back and noticed there was actually a fishing hook now at the Fishing Hook painting. So the girls must have triggered the event.

Okay, back to the room, which seemed to be possessed by Hitler's ghost, which wouldn't surprise me, considering he was the end boss in a game I played. My vest covered mouth and nose again and I reentered the room. By the way, I was holding my rose in my other hand to keep an eye on my health. This time I walked to the left. I didn't go there before, because there was gas coming out of a hole and I feared to get a lot more damage if I stepped in there. I carefully walked over there and when I was before it, I changed tactics. I ran through it and it something to the ground: an umbrella.

WTF?

Whatever, that thing was here and I took it. Shit, I inhaled the stuff! I needed to get out!

I managed it with three petals left. As I put my rose in the vase, I decided it was time for a nap-break. I definitely needed it after all my body went though the last 30 minutes.

xxx

Sleep didn't help much, though. I was stressed out. I now realized how much of a relief it was to share the tension with someone else. Taking my lighter out and playing a bit with it, I progressed.

I didn't need a walkthrough to get what I had to do with the umbrella. I attached it to the fishing hook and it went up. Next I walked to a room I had yet to explore. A tree was over the door.

Inside I found quite a lot of bookshelves. "I should be able to move them. It's like they're glued or something. 'No reading the books.' The hell was the creator of this game thinking?"

I inspected the shelves like always with care you'd expect in a place like Silent Hill. It worked out, I found the green paintball. 3/7

When I walked outside I heard a sound. I jumped and accidently lost my lighter. After picking it up, I lit it and carefully opened the door back to the tree room. I let my upper body hang, as I found only the pink ball. 4/7

Looking over the bookshelf I found red, but it was out of reach, invisible walls and all. I made a mental note and walked outside. There was not much left to explore. I looked at the different paintings Depths, Worry and so on, looking if I was able to trigger something, but it was no use.

I walked back to the room with the seven pillars, but it didn't brought me much looking at them. I mumbled some curses and switched my lighter on and off a few times, while walking in circles. The door with the cold handle was still closed, the tree room had nothing new, I sure as heck wouldn't go back to where I came from and so the only logical conclusion was back to the gas room.

I sighed and my body tensed up, just thinking about going in there again. I mentally prepared myself and walked in, mouth and nose covered.

Inside I heard the sound of some liquid dropping from somewhere. I caught a glimpse of blue with my eye and it landed into the vase. So this was my chance to fully explore this room! I walked outside, took several breaths and walked back inside. I walked over to the vase. Now I needed air and I took a breath, my rose immediately losing petals I put it in and actually left it inside the vase. It was an accident, but in actuality it was a pretty good idea. I found a cord, pulled it and the gas stopped coming. Several moments later it was all gone and I fell on my butt, relieved I didn't need to breathe that stuff ever again, no matter what would happen.

I took my vase and stretched myself.

"Okay Seb. Urrff. Just a little more to go. Two paintballs are missing and afterwards you can meet up with the girls again and...fuck. I still need to tell them everything and we need to figure a way out for all three of us." I rubbed my forehead. I was so close in getting out, yet I still needed to solve those problems.

I felt like I had a ball of iron in my stomach, as I went out. I was a nervous as I normally had always been before an exam. Maybe I should take it step by step. The doors were still closed, but the shelves which blocked the way in the tree room were gone.

I walked over to the red paintball and it disappeared from sight after I held it in my hand for like a second or so. I went over, searching through the bookshelves, being careful NOT to read anything, but just flip through the pages and look if papers fall out of it. Strange enough, there was nothing.

"Maybe the girls found some of them." I mused aloud, flipping through the pages of a child book. "My niece would love that story."

I was now days away from my world. The only one who most likely noticed I was gone was my boss and some coworkers, but they wouldn't call the police for a search warrant. The only two who I could think of were my parents, but I broke up contact after I got my apartment. I broke up every contact I once had, preferring to be on my own.

I shook my head before uncomfortable memories came up. From what it looked like, I was either stuck forever in this world or until the 'game' ends. Hey, maybe it is my decision? I think I'd stay here, get a low-bob job, meet Mary and Ib everyday and start anew.

But AGAIN, I had to find a way for all of us to get out first. The 1000 sigh ever since I got here escaped my lips and I stood up, after I checked the last book. Now I needed only one more paintball to get and then we were close to the end. I walked outside. I had a hunch where I needed to go next.

**"I found something interesting. I'll make it my treasure."**

"And I'll make you to ashes if you don't give it to me." I growled. Seeing the doll made me completely mad. I grabbed it, opened the zipper, took the white ball out and threw the doll violently away. 7/7, finished. The doll made some not understandable noise, but it seemed upset. The door opened a little bit and the doll walked inside.

"Like I'm actually going in. Fuck you." I showed the door the finger and went to the door, which would lead me to the girls, BUT it was still locked.

"Fuck, forgot I have to do it." I grumbled and kicked the door. I was so mad and I seriously considered burning the big painting inside the doll room. I kicked the door wide open, so it swung to the next wall, causing a lot of noise. Before the door even closed, I started searching the dolls. After the second I found out, the dolls where something was actually inside, had a fat tummy.

It made 'click' and the bell started ringing. It got darker from second to second. "Shit!"

I needed to lit my lighter in order to see properly, on which in return I had to slow down so the fire wouldn't get out. My breathing became a hissing and with every *dong* that sounded I got more and more nervous. The key turned out to be at the other end of the room, near the painting in a doll with a white dress. Of course the oversized doll was as good as out, when I found the key.

I turned off my lighter and ran to the door, stomping over several dolls in the process. Could be I killed the one or other, maybe not, but I definitely hurt a lot of them badly.

I stumbled and dropped the key. I picked it up, stood up, went to the door, dropped it again, picked it up and I was FINALLY OUT!

I slammed the door shut and ran to the vase. I leaned against the table and breathed several times. My legs gave in and I collapsed to the ground. "Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck~" The worst was behind me. All that was left to do was to get to the girls and explain them my situation. I stood up and slowly walked to the door.

It was locked. "WHAT THE FUCK!?"

Okay, this was seriously getting on my nerves. Some paintings were about to get BURNED. I lit up my lighter and was halfway to the doll room, when I stopped myself.

"Calm down Seb, every time you used violence in your life, you only get hurt. Tch, when do I ever get the chance to strike back?"

No use complaining about my life now. After some thought, I figured I needed to read out loud of Mary being a painting. It was the only thing I did different in this part of the gallery. Sighing I braced myself for what would happen soon and walked back to the tree room.

?

There was a book lying on the ground. It was a comic, written in German, the genre was comedy. Ah it was Werner. I better let this thing disappear. It is listed for kids 6 years old, but there was stuff shown, kids shouldn't see. I wondered how it was still shown on TV.

I came to a page, which had only one big picture of someone falling down a trap door.

I heard the sound of something being opened.

I swear I stood mid-air for the five seconds to look down and realize I had been standing on a trap door before I fell down.

"NOT AGAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN!"

I was in for another ride.

Left, right, left,right-

Left, left, left, still left.

Hard right.

Looping~

"Not. Helping. My. Stomach."

My ride ended with me landing face down to the ground. And I thought in Ib, the traps and puzzles were always different. Guess on me they made an exception, some kind of running gag.

I blacked out for the time being.

xxx

The world was spinning and there tacos everywhere. Don't ask about the tacos, I never actually ate one. But what were the marshmallows doing here? And what was that about the potatoes being in war again.

Short: I was messed up. I lost five petals after the landing and my whole brain was circling, if ou can say that. After ten minutes of recovery, I finally managed to get up and look around. I was in a new part of the gallery. It had no specific color. The walls had the color of a sunset or sunrise. Looking to the ground I found out I was standing on a sun.

"Okay..." I breathed out. New stuff for me to explore. I had four doors, everyone being orange. North, East, South and West. I went West first.

The room I entered had a chess field in the middle. One side of the room was white, the other black. Some figures were out of the field and only a few remained on. There was a piece of paper hanging on a wall and I read the content.

**"Checkmate in three rounds. Defeat the black within three rounds. It is Black's turn."**

"Chess? It's been a while since I played this game, but winning in three rounds? Okay Seb, you got this. It is a none deadly puzzle, so take your time and think."

By the way, on the different walls were paintings of the chess figures, each in opposite color to the wall they were hanging on. I took position in front of the field and black moved its King. Now I've never been good at chess and I won't even try to think ahead three turns in advance. I once tried it and I got a headache from it.

So I just randomly moved my figures (and they were quite heavy). With only half of my strength available, it took me some time and in the end I failed. I needed to head out and head in again, so the chess field would reset itself. This would take a long time that much was clear. And even if I would try to use my brain, I wasn't able, since with only five petals my body didn't had the energy to keep up and think hard at the same time.

Eventually I got lucky and solved the puzzle. The white figures cheered and clapped their hands, making me jump and frantically look around. There was a spotlight in the middle of the field all of the sudden and something was lying there: a simple piece of white paper.

I titled my head. What kind of reward was this? I held it against the light, but there was no hidden message or anything. The only thing noticeable about the thing was, it was the corner of the paper. Maybe it would made sense, once I had the other three pieces? I had three more doors to go and staying here, wondering about a piece of junk wouldn't help me, especially when there was a painting out there, ready to leave you behind, so she could get out.


	9. Chapter 9

**9) A little exchange**

**A/N: I have trouble thinking of puzzles and I don't think I can fill a full chapter with only Mary and Ib hanging out. So this is gonna be a mix.**

**By the way, I already planned 2 sequels, one simply describing life after the gallery, the other being a crossover with Professor Layton. Maybe I'll do it with Layton vs Ace attorney, but that's all still far away and if I'd start it now, I'd spoil the ending I've thought of.**

**I've heard Ib's age in this fanfic is wrong, but I ask you to bear with it, please?**

**Last note: I'll only write ONE ending. I'll describe the other possibilities, but writing sad things makes me depressive and then I don't want to write anymore.**

**3rd person POV with Ib and Mary**

None of the girls really wanted to stand up, but they figured it wouldn't bring them anywhere just sitting around, as comfortable as each other's company was to them. Ib knew falling in love with someone was highly unlikely at her age, but it happened. Well she never thought she'd fall in love with a girl if it would ever happen to her, but she didn't regret it.

Mary was holding tightly to Ib and the red eyed girl could understand it. Ib had been alone herself, mostly because of her red eyes and her being mute most of the time. But unlike Mary she still had her parents who comforted her when she was sad.

Mary meanwhile was trying to figure out to hold as tightly as possible to Ib without hurting the girl. Despite Ib's promise she'd never leave Mary, the blonde was afraid the other girl would disappear the second she let go of the girl. On top of all that, Mary constantly reminded the other girl of her promise.

"We'll be together forever, right Ib?"

"I read when you love someone the two belong to each other. You're mine Ib and I'm yours, right?"

"I can't wait. The games we'll play together."

Ib silently endured Mary's talking and smiled. She didn't mind it and she knew Mary was hurt because she was alone for so long. She didn't find the right word (crazy), but she didn't care about how Mary acted. As long as they could heal each other's heart, Ib would listen all day to her friend, no _lover._

During their wait, the fisher fished an umbrella out of the 'sea'. The girls didn't know what exactly to do with that thing, but it had to be there for a reason. Ib took it and remembered the painting: Woman without an Umbrella. She tugged Mary's hand signaling her she wanted to go somewhere. The knife was still lying on the floor and maybe it was better this way.

"What's wrong Ib?" Mary asked. Ib motioned to the door with the mannequin heads inside. "You want to go there? Oh of course! The painting!" Mary realized.

The two walked inside and Ib handed over the umbrella to the woman in the painting, who bent down and picked it up. By now Ib grew accustomed to the abnormalities of the art gallery. Actually she could very well think of living inside the gallery forever. Her parents however would probably not allow it or be too scared of it all, although Mary only needed to tell the other paintings and they all would be safe.

Too bad this didn't count for Seb yet, as he was separated and Mary had no means in telling the dolls to stop. Two things however made her curious. She never said anything about the walls coming closer or the other extra traps and second she still didn't get how the newspaper got into the gallery.

It started raining after the woman opened the umbrella and neither Ib nor Mary had an idea of how it helped Seb and from what it seemed the rest was up to him. They followed his progress through the book as his thoughts appeared inside in form of a diary. Some words the girls didn't understood, but Ib thought it may be better, because she'd heard Seb cursing every now and then and it probably were words she didn't need to know.

The two girls sat down against a wall and Ib put her head on Mary's chest, listening to the heartbeat of the other girl, while holding the book. Mary had wrapped both arms around the girl and pressed her against her own body, while reading the book.

Both of them tensed as they read how Seb treated the dolls being angry and all. They tensed even more as they read how Seb desperately tried to find the key and almost failed, even after he found the key.

To be honest, Mary was more afraid of Ib leaving her, than Seb getting hurt. She was still concerned about him. A little.

Both let out a relieved sigh after Seb escaped the room, though they sighed for different reasons. Ib closed the book.

"Right, the rainbow bridge." Mary remembered and the two walked over to the grey room, which was now in full color and had the rainbow bridge. Ib and Mary walked over and took the brown key with which they would be able to open the door, which would lead to Seb downstairs.

In the middle of the main room, Mary put both arms around Ib and forced the girl to stop. "Ib..." Mary whispered. Said girl turned around inside Mary's grab and found the blonde looking insanely at the brunette mixed with fear. Insanity and paranoia isn't something that can be healed in a few hours or a day or so. Mary was still afraid of Ib just leaving and even if the girl accepts Seb partially, she wouldn't take any chances of ending up all alone again.

Ib was a little afraid and she was sure Mary could feel her heartbeat increasing. Ib got closer and gave Mary a soft kiss on the lips, trying to calm the girl down. However it ended with Mary's grip increasing. Ib started stroking Mary on the back in circles. On this way her mother always calmed Ib down and she hoped it would do the same to Mary. At this rate Seb would be the one coming upstairs finding them like this. Speaking of him, it took him quite some time, but Ib needed to focus on her girlfriend. She should always be top priority anyways to the auburn haired girl.

Ib put one of her hands into her pocket. She decided she should give Mary something to see the blonde could trust the other girl. What should she give her? Ib didn't had much. There was only screwing the idea, the handkerchief or...

Ib decided and took it out.

Mary gasped.

"Your rose? You want me to have it?!"

Ib nodded and placed the rose inside Mary's pocket. Ib smiled and gave Mary a kiss on the cheek. "B-but that's your life source! I-I can't..."

Ib silenced Mary with another kiss.

"I love you Mary. You said it, I belong to you."

"B-but..." Mary took out her own rose, made of paper. It was nice to watch, but that was all to it. It wasn't alive like Ib's rose, it was just a fake. None the less, Ib took the rose and smelled it. a nice soft scent flew through her nose.

"Smells good." Ib commented.

"Don't be silly. It's just a fake. Fabricated, made of paper from my own painting." Mary scowled. Ib titled her head in confusion and held the rose to Mary. "Smell it."

Mary knew it was worthless, but maybe Ib tried to cheer her up, even if it was childish. Who was she to talk to, most of the time she was childish herself, except the times she was really depressed. Then she was more mature than Seb, who enjoyed fooling around every now and then.

Mary sniffed at the rose. Noting out of the ordinary. Just the normal scent of roses.

...

Wait what?

Scent?

Of?

ROSES!?

Mary carefully brought her hand up, said hand shivering in the process and it slowly came closer to the rose. Slowly, closer, closer...

It was like a spark went through her body.

The rose wasn't made of paper. It was real. It was, as Seb would put it, FUCKING REAL!

Mary wasn't sure how to react to this, but had an idea what happened and checked Ib's rose. No, this one was still real and didn't turn into paper. What was going on?

Mary couldn't hold back anymore. She exploded like a bomb filled with laugh gas, laughing, cheering, dancing around Ib and finally collapsing to the ground, panting heavily. Ib smiled. She could think of why Mary was so overjoyed. She looked concerned to the door, asking herself what took Seb so long. Oh well she could think of several reasons, the newspaper for example, but as she already told herself, Mary should be top priority to her every time. She placed herself next to Mary, kneeling down, stroking through her hair and waiting for Mary to recover.

Wordlessly she stood up after she caught her breath, Ib's rose still in her pocket and vice versa. "Seb sure is taking his time. Wonder what he's been up too? Maybe he's exhausted because of everything." Mary theorized. Ib nodded and together they opened the door and descended the stairs hand in hand.

"Seb? Hello~o~?"

No answer. Now the two grew worried. First they searched in the doll room, which still looked for Ib like bunnies. So instead of wounded dolls, she only saw broken rabbit pottery. Mary frowned and walked over to Trash (the doll following Garry, I researched the name).

"Hey, where is he?" she asked.

Ib watched the 'conversation'. Mary simply frowned. "They don't know either. Let's go."

"What about them?" Ib asked worried seeing the broken pots. She knew now everything here was pretty much alive. Mary's face softened at Ib's soft heart.

"Don't worry. They'll get themselves together again. As long as their painting is okay, they'll recover."

Mary and Ib walked outside and looked around a little more, but found nothing of note. "Let's look into the book."

_Trap door, nice. And I thought the traps and puzzles in Ib are always different. Guess for me they make an exception, some sort of running gag. I'm now...somewhere in nowhere? Well there's a sun here and everything is painted like a sunset/sunrise. I should paint my room this way, if I ever get home. Meh, it's not like I want to go home and return to my old life._

_That's not the matter!_

_As things stand I have four option and still a green key. Wonder if this'll help me solve my problem. The thing is, by now Ib and Mary either left or Mary freaked out and something bad happened._

_In any event, I can't do anything about it. I can't even check, since there's no book here and honestly, I don't want to invade Ib's privacy again._

_I lost five petals after the landing. This'll be tough._

Mary scowled. "I know that part of the gallery. But we can't use a shortcut, since it will most likely kill you." She said to Ib and flipped the pages.

_The first puzzle is a chess puzzle. Not that I ever was good in the game, but since it is not deadly, I don't have to worry about dying._

It went on about how he tried to solve the puzzle. It described every try, which filled about three pages.

_FINALLY. And all I got was a piece of paper. Oh well, if games taught me one thing, don't take something as trash, just because it looks like it. Okay, three doors to go._

It ended there.

Mary closed the book and took Ib's hand. "We have a long way to go. Are you all rested up?"

Ib nodded. Mary gave Ib a kiss and the two headed out.

XXX

Seb's POV

Who wrote this shit of a fanfiction? Oh yeah, I did or at least I planned after finishing the game. So much for breaking the fourth wall.

I had now three more doors. I decided to go east, which was now north for me and I should stop before I confuse myself more than necessary. I walked through and found myself in a green room. Jungle plants were everywhere and there was a huge ass hole in the middle.

Luckily there was a 'bridge'. Spider webs.

**"Only the spider who created the web knows where to go safely. Maybe in exchange for something she'll give you a hint. Or are you willing to take the risk and go on your own?"**

"I hate spiders." I commented.

In the upper left I could see a really huge spider, black with a green rose on its back and eight eyes, all having roses as pupils. I sweatdropped and hold back a laugh. It looked ridiculous, but I didn't want to get my organs becoming liquid and sucked out. That's how spiders eat.

I shuddered. Maybe I should try another puzzle first? Turning around I found the painting of the spider. So I either could burn my way through or try the normal way.

Aside from if I burn the spider, I burn the net, I want to get a 'good ending'.

So spiders need to walk towards their prey, meaning everything around the spider should be walk able. But I hate spiders and I was way too afraid to climb around there. Did I mention I'm afraid of heights?

Seeing as randomly picking one a few strings was way too dangerous I took my little bit of courage together and talked to the spider. "What do you want?"

I heard a splash and turned around. There was writing on the wall. **"Your rose."**

"WHAT!?"

You gotta be joking. What kind of request was that!? Forget it, but how the hell could I go over there?! Not to mention my fear of heights would easily get the better of me, when I started to climb around.

I surely could need a walkthrough now. I crouched down and touched the web. It wasn't sticky, so I could walk on that. I knew spider web was supposed to be way more stable than steel, so at least it wouldn't break down. I walked over to another web, AWAY from the spider. God, I was about to burn that thing for just being there.

It was sticky, but I was careful enough to only slightly touch it, so I wouldn't get glued on. I didn't see anything different from this to the other web. The only thing I _felt _was a glue-like liquid. Frowning I went back to the beginning and thought. I needed to sit down by the way, thanks to my weakened rose.

For once using my brain, oh god and without cola. I'd receive some serious damage.

I thought for a very long time, playing with my lighter, snatching it open and closing it again. At some point I turned my lighter on and shut it down again.

?

I thought I saw something. Must have been my imagination.

I resumed to thinking, playing with my lighter and turning it on at one point.

!

There it was again! I only saw it when my lighter was on. I turned my lighter on and then I got it. I smacked my head for being so stupid. The light in the gallery was always dimmed. And in this kind of light when brighter light falls on liquid like ocean water and in the right angle it _glitters._

Seeing as I had no choice but to solve this puzzle anyway, I went on.

There was this trick, never look down, but I HAD to look down for my trick to work! My psyche would be broken after this. Heck, I was even afraid of climbing the lowest part of a climbing adventure park and there I had safety measurements.

I needed a motivation.

I was too much of a realist and pessimist in order to motivate myself.

I decided to walk out of the room.

Locked.

Karma is a bitch.

Now I had no choice.

I carefully climbed on the first web, holding my hands on the left side, since there was the web going up the wall. Don't look down and it worked. It didn't help it was all shaking, though. I was for like 20 minutes on the same spot.

Now I needed my lighter. Another ten minutes passed.

By the by, one of my feet had space to fully stand on the web. And the web wasn't like a simple bridge. Like right in front of me was a wall (with a lot of square holes). The thing with me is, thanks to my fear of heights, every time I let go of the web with one of my hand I start shaking uncontrollably.

"...damn."

I gulped. If only I could control myself!

It was too late to turn back, not to mention impossible. What are you going to read now, not only happened in slow motion, but I needed minutes until it at least felt like an hour until I made my next move.

"I hate, hate, _hate _this place! I hate spiders, I hate heights, I hate my life, I hate this all! I should have burned this place down!"

Finally after one or two hours (at least from my gut feeling) hanging around (no pun intended) I took out my lighter and switched it on. Next I needed to carefully hold the thing up and down, until I memorized every spot being glued.

I carefully climbed around, my lighter still in one of my hands. Now I needed to check again, the ground to be precise so I could get around to the other side of the 'wall'.

I carefully glanced over to the spider every now and then. Still on the same spot. I shivered, making the whole net shaking again. On instinct I grabbed a web on the ground I didn't check and got lucky. In the process I made the mistake of looking down _directly. _I whimpered as my vision seemed to zoom in and out and became a little blurry.

Unnecessary to mention I stayed at this place for a very long time.

After some time I got used to it and my limbs started hurting from being in the same position for who knows how long. I looked at my watch, only to be reminded it stopped ticking.

The fear never fully went away, but I got used to all of this crap. Carefully I checked everything and climbed further in crouching position as for the time being I had no other choice.

Now it got complicated. I had to climb over a web. Checking went compared to the other times fast, since it was right in front of my face. The hard thing was always finding the right angle. I reminded myself of the sunset of an ocean and tried to hold my lighter the same. Thing was, my face needed to be in the right angle too.

After getting over, the square holes got bigger, but I was almost there. Checking the 'ropes' I found only one way to go. I could now either try balancing on two feet, which was suicide, or lie down on my tummy and crawl forward. Before I could switch off my lighter, it got empty. So much for burning things.

...

Since when was I a pyro?

...

Whatever, only a few feet more.

Further

Further

Furtherrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

"GOT IT!" I exclaimed.

After this whole exercise, I felt cramps acting up everywhere. Half of them probably just my imagination.

I panted and panted and next I heard the sound of light getting on.

The source came from the ground.

...

...

...

...

You gotta be kidding.

That hole...

...

...

...was only about one meter deep.

...

Another piece of paper was down there.

...

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

xxx

Meanwhile in the real world

The visitors of the gallery were just watching the different paintings, when suddenly a scream could be heard, making all the paintings shaking.


	10. Chapter 10

**10) Finally progress**

**A/N: God, finally thought of something.**

Let's forget what happened last time, shall we? After that little episode, I felt a little bit better. Still I decided to take a little nap. Sleeping was a little impossible at the time, because of the tension that just wouldn't go away.

By now Mary probably already left with Ib the gallery and all I was doing was wasting my time. The only thing that kept me halfway going was that I couldn't be sure if that was really true. One thing I should mention is, the papers I found are photographic paper. I couldn't identify a picture because the pieces were still white, like they had been just shot.

What does that mean, my dear gamer buddies?

Correct.

Depending on the choices I made and maybe Ib made, the result of the picture will always be different. But if that's really the case, then what is the actual true picture? I should stop right now. Philosophy was never good for my brain.

After a good nap, I got up with my limbs aching from the unnecessary exercise. I threw a coin and it showed 50 cent. The south door it was then.

The room wasn't anything special, except it had another door with a picture above: Beach Isolation. Curiously I opened the door and shut my eyes immediately, due to the freaking bright light! In case you forgot, the entire art world is dimmed and now I actually went into a room, covering my eyes, which were lightened up. The smell of sea water entered my nose and the sound of waves hitting a shore could be heard.

My suspicions were confirmed as my eyes adjusted to the light: I was on a beach. I stood there, whistling and taking everything into account. The whole area had a completely different aura. Wait, I was now in a painting, coming from a painting? If that's the case, I've been in 4 worlds in total. My own, Ib's, Mary's and now this one.

Although there was an ocean, this 'room' had its limits. I could see a wall on which a horizon was painted on. It went in all four directions. The door I came from was in a rock. To my left was the ocean, to my right a beach with palms everywhere, here and there a few grass spots. It looked like I was on a very little island.

"Man...that's something."

I took off my shoes and socks and gave my feet a little rest is in the water. God that felt awesome. Here and there were little mussels and small crabs were walking inside the water. Beach Isolation, hopefully I wouldn't get trapped in here. That thought was alarming enough to make me dry my feet and put on my socks and shoes. I was supposed to solve a puzzle here, but where was it?

I heard the sound of a monkey all of the sudden. Turning around I found a badly drawn black monkey, which looked like it came from a game for children I once saw on TV. One of those little plastic monkeys.

That thing could move all of its limbs and slapped its ass, taunting me. Now it reminded me of enemies from a game I played. Suddenly it jumped on me and took my rose.

"Waah! Hey! Get back here!"

The monkey slapped its ass and when I was close, it jumped into a palm tree. I growled, I couldn't climb up that thing. Hopefully it wouldn't start playing 'loves me, loves me not'. I ran towards the palm tree, the monkey letting out its' teasing sounds and when I came close enough, it threw a damn coconut after me.

"OW! HEY!"

It threw another one, but missed. I hissed and tried to think of something. I got an idea, but doubted it would work. I kicked against the tree, trying to make it shake. It didn't work as well as I planned it, but at least the monkey got a little distracted.

However, when it got the chance, it jumped into the next tree and started throwing coconuts against me again. Payback time. I picked up one of the nuts and threw it back to the monkey, completely missing my target. This was going to be a very long day...

XXX

Ib's POV (I didn't have this yet in the entire story)

I didn't tell Mary, but I was really tired. At the same time I wanted to find Seb as soon as possible, so he would be safe too. We were walking through a very long hallway, not the same we came from, but it looked almost the same. It had been hidden by a bookshelf, from which Mary picked up a book and it opened like a door.

None of the paintings, sculptures or anything attacked us anymore. They helped us, if they wanted. Or when Mary told them to. I didn't want her to scare the other paintings just for me, but she still did it.

We opened the next door and came to a very big hall. It was like in the grey gallery, only bigger and with more doors. How big was this gallery? Paintings of the different ladies and headless statues were everywhere and the butterfly from the butterfly effect painting flew over us. We here halfway through, when I couldn't hold up anymore and fell to my knees.

"Ib!" Mary shouted my name and came down next to me. My eyes felt heavy, as I looked up to her. I tried to smile, but instead I yawned. Mary frowned.

"You ARE tired." she pointed out. She titled her head, like she was thinking. "Come here." She pulled me up a little bit strong and dragged me into a room with a big bed inside. A nightstand was there too and a painting of the mannequins hung above the bed. Seeing Mary's face, I knew I had no choice, but to go to bed. Still, I picked up the book from the nightstand to see if Seb was really okay. He was.

Another yawn came out and Mary's frown deepened. "Ib..."

I smiled at her and nodded. I got under the blankets and Mary followed. She came face to face to me and started humming a lullaby (Ib; Memories Soundtrack). I closed my eyes and felt Mary stroking through my hair. I clutched on Mary's rose like a teddy bear and fell asleep.

Mary's POV

I suppressed a snicker as Seb got hit with the coconut for the 20th time. After Ib fell asleep, I decided to read some more, to see how he's doing. My big sister's even came to look after us and they almost woke Ib up.

After I finished it took too long for more writing to appear, so I simply waited for Ib to wake up. She clutched onto my rose and I felt like she was hugging me all over. I smiled and took out her rose. Ib reacted when I clutched on her rose. I wrapped one arm around her, while the other held her Rose. She must be feeling good now with me holding her body and soul.

Ib snuggled herself into my chest and I smelled her hair. I just noticed, but she had perfume on which smelled like roses.

Ib woke up later, with me looking into her deep red eyes. "Morning."

"I had a dream." she said.

"A dream? What was it about?" I asked. She smiled.

"Seb hitting our heads, because we were not careful enough with hiding our love."

I titled my head in confusion. "Why would we hide it?" I asked.

"It is...strange for our age to be in love."

"Really?" I asked. I didn't know that much about the human world, only the stuff I read about in books. Ib nodded and snuggled again into my chest.

Looks like we'll be like this for a little longer.

XXX

Seb POV

"Gotcha!"

I finally managed to get the stupid monkey down. It was the third time, but this time I wouldn't let it climb back into a tree. Picking up a wooden stick, I unleashed a few strikes onto the ape, until he finally let go of my rose. I picked it up and pointed the stick at it, like I actually had a sword. The ape flew.

Sighing I collapsed on the ground. Despite the injuries, I didn't lose any petals. Maybe I was really safe in this part of the gallery. But in exchange I was stuck with only 50 % of my strength and stamina.

Not wanting to get my rose stolen again, I decided to take another nap break in the sun room. As I got back into the room in between, I found another piece of the photo on the ground. On the opposite side hung a painting or more a scribble of the monkey: Little Thief. Frowning I went out and took my nap break. By now I was pretty much used to sleeping against the wall.

xxx

Okay, last door. Let's get this shit finally over with.

"And behind this door we seeeee~...nothing."

It was pitch black. Nice and just now my lighter was empty. I should have entered this room from the very start. Now what? The only light source I found was from the door I kept open, still, I couldn't see a thing. I frowned and looked for a switch out of habit.

I considered that something might happen when the door was closed. Nope, it was still pitch black. Unnerved, I opened the door and looked for something with which I could keep it open, to find my way back. Good thing I still have my very first cell phone, which is pretty stable, so I was able to have the door a peak open.

I considered using my phone as a lighter and finally decided for that. It was way better, since I could at least make some silhouettes out in the darkness, but nothing in particular. At least I didn't ran into any walls.

Wait.

My watch wasn't working, but my cell phone was. I could see just how long I was in here. Holy shit, it was midnight. No wonder I felt so exhausted. To top it all, I was in here for five days now! Just how long did I sleep? I bet Ib and Mary are already out. So it is up to me to find another way.

Great. Just great.

Still my hope was up, even if it was highly unlikely the two were still here. I made my way around some objects to a wall, slowly seeing a no fire sign. Maybe it was good that my lighter was empty. Turned out it was. After I identified the shield, the room lightened up and there was a lot of stuff in here, which could easily burn down. I gulped.

I was in a storage, with a lot of papers, a lot scattered around on the ground. The objects I've been avoiding have been piles of papers. Setting something NOT on fire would have been really difficult, screw it, impossible. (Avoided alternated ending: Pyromaniac; just one of a few already avoided endings)

I found the last photo piece and the pieces put them together on their own. The photo was still white and no matter how long I waited, it remained that way. It wasn't over.

"It would have been way too easy..." I mumbled. "Hehem enter end: Never Ending Puzzles or Blank Photo. White Paper? None of them sound really great...I should write a book about this, in case I really stay in Ib's world.

Fuuuuuuuu!

I still need to tell them!"

Oh great...Well first things first: I needed to find them.

Walking back to the sun room, I found a trap door in the middle. Curiously I opened it and found a staircase going further downstairs. I frowned. I needed to get up and not down, but this one was the only way. Well at least not another slide ride.

After walking downstairs, the walls changed to dark night sky blue. On the ground and the walls were little white dots, symbolizing stars. A moon was at the center and everything looked really awesome. The room was more a hall and I had a few more options. I stayed a little more in this room, whistling in awe.

I walked over to one of the night blue doors and opened the golden knob.

"Talk about a change of pace." I said out loud. The room was in complete violet, old fashioned lamps enlightening the room in the regular dim light. What really made this room interesting was the big dining table in the middle. A white blanket was covering it and there was real food on it. At least ten people could take a seat.

The paintings of the Ladies were on the wall and their eyes were following me.

"Creepy~" I thought I'd use this high pitch voice more often. I looked around, carefully keeping an eye on the Lady paintings. Maybe I should take a seat?

I decided against it and looked around. I didn't feel hungry, but the appetite was there, I can tell you. I wasn't a fan of chicken, but the one on the table at least looks tasty and it all smelled really well. Aside from the chicken, there was salad, potatoes, pudding, ice cream, noodles, caviar, a few meals I didn't recognize, but looked expensive, fruits cut and placed, so it made a beautiful picture, a huge cake with red, yellow and blue roses as marzipan and finally a selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.

"How come Mary never ate, when here's this whole stuff? Must be a reason. Poison? Not real?" I spoke my thoughts out. I decided to not touch anything. I was just being careful, because who knows? Maybe when I touch something, the paintings will jump out.

I left the room, after checking for newspaper pieces. Being reminded of them, I walked back upstairs and into the paper storage, checking if anything was hidden. I found a fire extinguisher. Lol?

I walked back to the Moon Hall, as I dubbed it and checked another door. It had a vase and a book in it. The vase was empty and I honestly couldn't bring myself into looking into it. It's like with getting back the results of the exams. You just don't want to look on the paper.

There was a painting of a maid, simply called Maid. Reminded me of the Gentleman painting. I forgot Guertena even made simple paintings, like this breakfast painting or the Lady in Red. I walked over to some drawers and found a few empty frames in different size and with different designs. I closed it and opened the one in the middle: a few glasses for the frames. The last drawer was empty.

Seeing as there was nothing else in here, I walked out and looked around in the hall a little more. A few headless statues, but they didn't move.

Yet.

I made sure to keep my distance and entered another room. This one was dark too. Frowning, I took out my cell phone and used it as a flashlight again. Again my habit struck, looking for a switch and guess what? There was one. After using it, I needed to cover my eyes again, because yet again, the light wasn't dimmed and I soon found out why. This was a library. A freaking huuuuuuuuuuuuge library.

Tables here and there, couches, small pillows to sit, hell, I could start thinking of living in here. I had a dining room, with all those books I'd be occupied for some time, the only downpart was I'd go insane without human contact.

I sure as heck wouldn't check for any newspaper pieces in here.

The books were categorized and I decided to walk around a bit. I found the painting 'A good meaning Hell'. It kind of fit, even if it symbolized someone with his or her piano teacher.

As I came to the section for kids, I noticed some books were missing. I found them on a nearby table. "Mary must have read them. They describe pretty good about child games, friendship...yeah, that one my mom used to read to me, when I was a kid."

As I looked over them, I found a paper beneath them. There was a painting in crayon. It showed Mary with another child. It wasn't Ib, it was a random child. She and the kid were holding hands and above were written 'Best Friends Forever'.

"Poor Mary." I mumbled. She must have made this after reading these books or while she was reading. Didn't the other paintings kept her company? Maybe she wanted to have a _human _friend. Even the Ladies carried their frames around all the time. "Maybe she wouldn't be this way, if there would be another one like her."

Too bad Guertena died after he finished Mary. Hmm...

There was this one theory out there with Garry being actually an amnesiac Guertena. Some theories went on with because he forgot his paintings, they all hate him and want to get rid of him or make him stay or take simple revenge.

Personally I think Garry's just a random visitor with a strange sense of fashion. Well, I was the one to talk. I never cared about what I wore, as long as it was comfortable.

Seeing as there was nothing more to do for me at the moment, I walked out. I carefully eyed the statues, wondering if I triggered something after finding Mary's little painting. When I looked away, I heard a growl/snarl/whatever sound those statues make when they start chasing you.

I ran behind a wall and quickly got rid of it. Well, as long as this was the only one, I'd be able to avoid it. Still I should quickly find a vase or else I'll be dead pretty soon. I carefully listened to my surroundings, checking how far the statue was away. Very far, but the way its footsteps echoed through the hall, it gave me the creeps and made it a little harder to determine the real distance. Very far just might be not as far as I really think it is.

A few mannequin heads were standing left and right in front of a door. Right next to the door was a sign: **"Unfinished Works."**

"Huh? Stuff the dude didn't get to finish before he died. Reminds me of the fanfics I didn't get to finish, before I got here. That would be all, except for my one-shots." I realized.

The doorknob felt strangely warm, giving me a calm feeling. I opened the door and walked inside.


	11. Chapter 11

**11) **

**A/N: Thanks Number III for shaking me awake, so I can redo this chapter! Sorry for the (was it 8?) people who read the whole crap. The first part is still the same. I'll mark the new content with a lot of X.**

After I entered the room, I heard a *click* sound. I turned around and tried the door. It was locked. "Seriously, we already had that too. Twice." By now I wasn't even scared anymore being locked away. It was harmless compared to other stuff.

Aside from that, this room had something, I don't know. It didn't feel dangerous at all. I might have to explain a little. This room here mostly looked like any other storage room I've been in. Of course a little difference was always there, but here was a significant difference: there was dust all over.

What's so significant about dust, you may ask.

Well, the gallery was spotless, no matter which room you enter. But this had dust all over, like it hadn't been used in ages. Plus it almost felt like I was back in the real world, in one of Guertenas storage rooms, wherever he lived.

The room was dimly lighted by a single bulb. There were shelves, paper stacks and most of all paintings. All over paintings. Yet none of them was complete, like the sign at the door said. Let me give you a few examples.

There was one painting called "Illusion". It looked like a firework rocket exploding in the night sky. Every light was one color of the rainbow. Red was missing though. The basic outlines were there, so I could have completed the painting by just filling the space. I didn't do it because of two reasons. One: Guertena painted oil paintings. I'm not good in art. Two: the painting was called "Illusion". Gamers should get alarmed just by the name.

I found some sketches of paintings I already saw. "In this one Mary looks way better." I mused. She had longer hair, was surrounded by roses and there was a note about the dress being yellow.

There was a picture of a group of people, drawn with a pencil. It didn't have a name.

I found an incomplete statue of a green stickman.

A statue of whatever the hell it should resemble. It was a mess.

That one painting hanging in a frame intrigued me. It reminded me of a crime show. A room was shown, with a little blood on the ground. There was the shape of someone lying against the wall. Shape wasn't the right word. There was simply no color in it. It was white.

The colors were orange, beginning around the white shape, turning brown and at the end it was black. The only thing missing was the corpse. The painting was called "Evidence".

"That guy had some serious issues." I deadpanned.

I found a painting of showing a grass field. The upper half were the sky was supposed to be, was white. There was a complete white picture called "Instinct." It looked like the guy never came to start it in the first place.

"Lady in Black." How he never finished that one, I'll never know.

A picture showing a bottle of wine being thrown over and the liquid was floating down a table. It missed a name.

I could now go on and on and on. There were a lot of pictures I could have finished with a simple careful swing of the brush. The tools were all here.

I decided to look away from the paintings and look for a way out. I even tried the green key, but it didn't fit. I looked around the stash, but only found painting tools and more drawings and paintings. The answer to this puzzle had to be in one of the paintings.

"Oh boy, this is gonna take a while." I faced reality. Ib and Mary or one of them were in the outside world and I needed to find a way back to my world. Too much time passed already and I'm sure Mary somehow convinced Ib in jumping through the painting.

A painting of a hallway...

A painting of a book...

"The five stages of grief". Even the first one wasn't completed.

I walked to the very end of the room, where a towel was wrapped over a painting. This might be what I am looking for. Unwrapping the towel I found the most awesome painting I've ever seen.

Let's go there step by step.

In the front left, you could see a girl, around Ib's and Mary's age, wearing a blue kimono, eyes closed and a freaking katana leaning against her. She took the most part of the left picture. She also had blue hair, just for the record. But hell there was more.

In the background of the right, lying in the grass was a freaking dragon! Blue scales. Rose petals came out of his neck. It seemed to sleep. Next to him was a cherry tree, with cherry blossoms flying away in the wind. In the front was a grass field, in the back an Asian styled wall, Bottom white and top red. The sky was clear with a full yellow moon and stars everywhere. It was painted in a darker blue, than the girl's hair.

The painting was called "Guardian". It looked like it should be originally called silent guardian, but the silent had an X over it.

All in all the painting looked completed, but there was one detail I didn't mention so far: the girl's hair. There was one spot which was white. It wasn't even a spot; it had the shape of a rose. A rose was missing.

I unplugged my rose and looked down at it.

"Seb, this is way crazier than the time you drank coke, milk and apple juice at the same time."

This was crazy! The alternative was way saver, simply painting the rose. The outlines were already there in black, so even if I painted over, no one would notice! The hair had the same blue color as my rose and that blue was lying on a table right next to me. So why was I standing there, ready to plug my rose in?!

I'd never know. Call it instinct, but in the end I did it.

"YOLO!" I plugged the rose in. A split second later there was a blue light, blinding me. When it was gone, the painting was finished. The 'silent' was gone. The girl had her eyes half open. Her pupils had the shape of a lizard like creature AKA dragon! The dragon was now briefing and the rose petals were flying in the wind, like in the painting "Fleeting thoughts on a moonlit night". Were the two paintings related?

And I was dead.

..

...

...

JOKE!

...

Come on, cut me some slack!

Anyways, for some reason I was still alive, at least I felt like it. To top it all, I felt like my stamina was back and my injuries were all healed up. There was this *click* again and the door was unlocked.

"I'm so gonna regret this." I laughed nervously. I took another look around and left the room. I felt the pressure of being watched once again I was outside.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Here starts the rewriting!

So what now? I just gave away my rose in order to get out of the room. I feel pretty much alive, as alive as someone can be. I pinched myself and it hurt. I needed to breath and all over I still was the same as I always was.

Now where to next? I had plenty of doors left as a option, so I chose the next best one, since that freaking statue called up some friends and they all were running to my position. "Oh man, so much for the game theory they're just after your roses." I mumbled.

Looking around, this room had a vase in filled with water. Too bad, so sad, I don't have a rose anymore.

?

There was something under that vase. A small paper.

**"Look up."**

"HOLY!" I exclaimed, before an entire labyrinth fell from the ceiling, almost turning me into a pool of blood and meat. I breathed several times, calming myself down. "This gotta be a joke." I muttered and cursed along the way.

I heard some strange noises, like someone scratching the surface with something. Around the corner appeared the Lady in Green. Oh it's just Green.

...

...

...

"OH SHIT!"

I moved the other, being chased by Green. The thing was this was another amazing maze. Yeah, we had that pun already. Blame the author.

I ended up at a dead end. Really, no pun intended.

When I turned around, the Lady was already blocking my way. "Fuck." What now?

Jumping? You know what?

"Yolo!" I growled, yes growled. I waited a little for the Lady to come. I was shivering and actually missed the perfect timing. When I jumped she was way too close to her and she managed to grab my leg, making me hit the ground. Out of instinct, I held my arms up, keeping my face save. The landing still hurt, though.

Panicking I shook my leg, trying to shake of the Lady, but she crawled up on my back, her frame hitting the back of my legs and my actual back. That girl was heavy for a painting, plus it was not comfortable. The Lady laughed and secured me, holding the back of my neck. I think she actually wanted to strangle me. Someone wasn't listening during biology lesson.

We were in this position for a minute. I thought about playing dead, but she didn't leave my back.

I had another idea. I rolled to the side, hitting the wall in the process with my head. Of course the lady hit the wall too, so she let go of me. I instantly stood up and ran...

...into another dead end. Panicking I turned around and ran to a spot where I had ways to retreat. It looked like I lost the Lady. Great, we were back to psycho play.

I walked carefully and looked around every edge, looking out for the Lady in Green. After 5 minutes I spotted her crawling around the corner. Now I knew where NOT to go. But I already lost every sense of direction.

I wanted to go to the opposite side, when suddenly my leg was pulled and I fell to the ground. I heard the familiar maniacal laugh of one of the ladies.

From the outside I was: "SHIT!" Total panic.

Inside: _You gotta be shitting me... _deadpan.

Did you ever notice, that when something is happening to you (it doesn't have to be life threatening), you have two different reactions? Outside and Inside? From the inside you're mostly calm. Mostly. Spend 5 days in this gallery and you're calm on the inside no matter the situation. And from the outside you panic. Yeah, I'm getting off topic.

I managed to get rid of the Lady in Red the same way I did with Green. The downside was, Green already heard me and was now to coming from where I saw her going. I ran into a random direction, changing the direction (and hitting a bunch of walls) as often as possible, until I arrived at a dead end. Well, I lost the Ladies. Not good there was the picture of Brown right in front of me, jumping out.

I bit in my arm (suppressing a scream with that method) and ran away. Now I had three Ladies chasing me in this maze. I was sure I missed the exit about three times or so. I was leaning against a wall, panting and trying to listen to hear anything that sounded like a picture frame being shoved over the ground.

I couldn't really determine the direction, because it all echoed around, creeping me out. I already left a bunch of marks on my arms and the fourth was about to come, as I walked through the maze, suppressing every kind of fear/frustrating sound that could come out.

Something grabbed my vest and just started running, not even caring what color this Lady had. Why? I hit my head enough :(

My fucked up luck struck again as I ran past the door. When I turned around, the Lady in Yellow already was halfway to the door. I ran to the door, got grabbed by my vest again, but slammed the door against the Lady (and my leg) and got finally out.

"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!" I needed to let it out.

I collapsed to the ground, laughing in that maniacal way Mary normally laughed. I coughed at the end, which is the way I normally laugh. This isn't a joke.

I stayed on my knees for a couple of minutes, until I heard footsteps.

"Shit! I forgot the statues!" I whispered to myself and ran behind a wall. Great, no matter where I would run from there the statues would notice me. I needed to time this perfectly. Since my method was proven successful, I bit my arm again, leaving the tenth mark. I was biting through my vest or else I'd be bleeding. I'm not going to make a vampire joke now.

I heard a door being opened. It was the door, where I had been before. The Ladies could use doors? Who the hell increased the difficulty? What I saw next was disturbing. Like unnerving. Like what the fuck was going on? Okay, I should tell you guys.

There was Mary talking to the three Ladies. I didn't understand a word, but from the looks of it, she was angry, because she was stomping her food to the ground. I briefly wondered why she wasn't screaming.

"Seb?! Where are you?"

I have a bad feeling about this. Where the heck was Ib? Was she dead? Did she leave? Wait, in case of the latter Mary should have left already, so Ib was...dead?

I had a hard time swallowing the information. It was the only thing that made sense, but I didn't want to belief it. However, my brain kept reminding me of how Mary could have lost it and killed Ib by accident. As much as I wanted to help her, I just couldn't let go of the fact she killed Ib. Well it wasn't a fact, but it was highly likely.

She looked around a little and then gave up, going back. Suddenly she stopped and turned to one of the paintings. "Find him!" she shouted and left. The paintings ran away, like their lives were depending on finding me. I couldn't help, but sweatdrop.

"Wow...okay. Now I have to look out for Mary too. Should I go out? Or should I try to find out what happened?"

There had to be a way out since Mary was here. And hopefully it wouldn't include another slide. Having no other choice, I walked after Mary. The paintings and statues seemed to avoid her and I hardly could blame them. She was whistling a tune that sent shivers down my spine.

I wasn't exactly sneaky or anything, but Mary wasn't quite too. She was jumping the entire time and whistling as I already said it. At one point she changed from whistling to humming yet another tune. Did she think of them all herself?

After some more time she entered the dining room and closed the door behind her. At least I now knew where not to go. Oh the irony in this sentence.

You see, fate must be trolling with me. There was at least one painting or statue in front of every door, looking around with the exception of the room with the unfinished paintings. The mannequins in front of that room were gone all of the sudden. Seeing as I had no other option, I went inside.

"Pheeeeeeew...~. What now?" I asked in a desperate tone. Keeping calm was getting harder and harder. I found myself looking around the room, searching for anything useful. Heck, haven't seen one of those in a while.

_The similarities between those killings followed to the speculation of the murders being a 'family tradition'. The police declined this being a family business. They speculate the killer has some personal issues and might think he is the same who did the killings a century ago._

"W-w-w-w-whaaaaaaaaat?! A century ago!?"

Now that was reassuring. A killer copying another killer. Personal issues?

Shoving the paper to the rest, I looked around and something caught my eye. The painting "Guardian" was gone. The entire picture, gone, just like this. It looked like I wouldn't get my rose back soon, if ever. Wait was that the trick? Was that the trick so we all could get out, like some kind of identification system wouldn't detect me, because I had no rose?

I know I'm grasping but maybe this was the whole trick: don't take your rose with you.

The door opened. "Found you~!"

I froze in my tracks and turned around really slowly.

"H-hey Mary..." I waved nervously with my hand.

She either didn't notice me being nervous or ignored it. She approached me and took my hand. "Come on! Ib is waiting already!"

"Ib?! She's-"

I almost asked whether Ib was alive or not, which would have been a bad move. A really bad move.

She dragged me outside with inhuman strength and we walked back to the dining room. On the way I asked her: "Mary, why are you not with Ib right now?" I asked.

"We split up."

"Isn't that a little bit too dangerous?" I asked.

"None of the paintings will do anything to her. I told them so."

"W-w-wait! YOU told THEM?!"

We were already at the door and Mary opened it. "Ib! I found him!"

I was barely inside, when I got hugged by Ib. "Whoa there! Easy Ib, I'm alright." I ruffled her hair. She was alive. Wait, that meant the two must have been looking for me, instead of going out.

"So uh...I hate to ruin the mood, but there's something I need to tell you."

Here goes nothing.

"Oh you mean in your world this is all a video game? We already know!" Mary cheered.

"You WHAT?!" That gave me the rest. I landed on my ass and leaned against the door. "That's it, I'm done for."

I banged my head on the door behind me a few times and would have done that for the rest of the day, if Ib wouldn't have slapped me.

"Ow..."

Another one.

"OW! I got it, I got it! You can stop now!" I shouted. She was ready to give me another slap.

I rubbed my face. That girl, I swear. "So...uhh, I guess we should tell each other what happened."

So they told me their part of the story. The puzzles they solved, how they found out about the books and about me. To top it all, they kissed.

My head hit the table. Yeah we actually placed ourselves on the table, because it was more comfortable. A really comfortable table. Insanity is getting through me.

"What's wrong?" Mary asked.

"That's...forget it. Just don't do it when we're outside and someone is looking."

They finished their part and I had a brief grasp of the situation at hand. "You found another paper? Can I see it?" I asked.

I looked at it and read through the lines.

...

"Seb? Your face is white." Mary pointed out.

"Heilige Scheisse!" I needed to let out some curses. Since the two were present, I let them all out in German.

"What are you talking about?" Mary asked. "You're not making any sense."

"I spoke German and you don't want to know what I said. You especially don't want to know what is written in here!"

"Huh? Why?" Mary asked.

"Because" I looked down at the paper "here's a very detailed description of what the killer did to the children BEFORE he actually killed them. And...oh gross..." I averted my eyes.

You remember I said Guertena was a little insane? Well I don't think so anymore.

THAT bastard here was sick! Sex abuse, cutting of limps, taking of fingernails, starving, whipping, burning, hell even medieval types of 'interrogation' methods! That all was done to the kids!

At first it was simple killing from what I can get. But then all of the sudden he or she started torturing the children!

I looked around and finished the next best coke bottle in one try, without even breathing. I've never seen such a detailed description in any newspaper.

**A/N: God damnit, I need a break after this. So I hope this is better and more interacting between the characters will come next chapter.**


	12. Chapter 12

**12) The Lady's confession**

**A/N: Now how do I continue this? I absolutely have no idea...**

**I am not sure whether to come to the murder mystery conclusion in this story or the sequel (not the crossover one) I'm planning. In the sequel I'd have way more opportunities and no limits.**

**I'm taking suggestions.**

"YOU WHAT?!" Mary exclaimed and I scratched the back of my head sheepishly. "Well, I'm still alive, right? I mean, I didn't commit suicide to die."

...

What?

...

...

Oh god, it happened again.

"Forget I just said that. Sometimes it just goes through with me."

Now the two girls looked at me like I was the crazy painting here. I and my death jokes, plus everything that's happening around, it looked like I was over my melancholy. Yeah, that just was a piece of my original personality.

I assume out of good manners the two slapped me really hard. Mary's slap especially hurt and for a second I thought my leg was broken. At least it was proven with that slap, that I was human and not a painting, else it wouldn't have hurt.

We just finished exchanging what happened to each of us individually so far. "So we're safe now?" I asked Mary, who got a thoughtful expression. "Well, as long as you don't hurt yourself or activate a trap, sure you're." she smiled. "But I don't know about you."

"You mean, whether I'm dead after ten injuries or not."

She nodded. "Well my Rose only had five petals left. But after I put it into the painting, I kind of feel normal again, like when my rose had ten petals." I explained to them.

Mary frowned and Ib looked at me worried. I swear that girl calls up emotions I never thought I'd have for anyone. Not love, I call that hormone malfunctioning. If a six year old would cause my hormones to react, oh boy. It just the wish to protect her, because she _cares _about me, even though she doesn't know me. If she'd really know me, I was sure she wouldn't feel that way.

"Hey, you think the painting might be alive now, since, I mean first she's complete now and second I gave her my rose."

Mary thought about it for a moment and then she grinned. "That means you can come out with us and we'll-"

"Mary." Ib and I said at the same time. I crossed my arms and sighed. "I'd that thought of that already and we're not pulling that one off." Oh man, I could tell Mary was desperate. She didn't belief there was another way. Speaking off...

"Hey Mary. How do you know one has to be left behind? I mean, did someone tell you this or something?"

Ib curiously looked over to Mary. "I just know."

I fell over. Like really, I really managed to fall over in anime style. Try that out in our world. I kind of expected that answer, but still, it wasn't helping. "Alright, let's try another approach."

"A what?"

"Another way on taking this on. How about we look for the painting I mentioned?" I asked.

"But that will take a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong time." Mary said time really quick, after stretching long for like 30 seconds. "Do you know how big this gallery is? You've only seen ummm one finger out of ten."

"10 percent...really? It is that big?" I asked. Mary nodded.

_At least you won't get bored so quick._

I rubbed my temples with two of my fingers. "This is not helping. Okay, last lead we have is kind of freaking me out. And in more than one way."

"The murderer!" Mary exclaimed _happily._

_You just earned yourself two more points on the creepy scale._

"I don't know how we're supposed this little mystery with newspapers. To top it all, I think this thing is talking about me."

The two girls gasped.

"What? Why?"

I crossed my arms and shook my head clear. "It is kind of obvious. Those things only started to appear when I got here. Plus the Gallery itself called me murderer. Remember the room, where the lights went out?" I asked. The two shivered, which was answer enough.

This whole mystery gave me a headache. "I don't really see how solving this is going to help us anyways. I don't know why the gallery is accusing me of being a murderer, but it explains why some of the people outside looked at me, like I was a monster."

I pulled a chair next to me and sat down. Oh man, it made too much sense for my taste. Ib walked next to me and put a hand on my arm. When I looked at her, I saw her smiling reassuringly. "Thanks Ib." I ruffled her hair. Mary immediately came and pulled Ib's arm, obviously jealous. I laughed and ruffled her hair too.

"Don't worry girl, I'm not gonna steal her away from you or anything." Mary pulled Ib closer, making me laugh really hard. It was just hilarious.

"Do you have someone?" asked Ib all of the sudden. I put my hands behind my head and leaned back on my chair. "Uff, nope. Never actually felt that way to anyone." I said, looking up at the ceiling.

"Really?" Ib sounded sad.

"I never felt the need of a girlfriend. Sure I got jealous when I was younger and all the others had their dates 'n' all, but in the end I realized I'm not the guy who wants someone at his side. I get along with the little (I almost said shitty) life I have. Sure it's not the best, hell, most of the time I spent in front of my PC, but it was a life I could live. A job, a home, that's all I ever wanted."

"Don't you have friends?" asked Mary. I shrugged.

"Haven't talked with 'em in years. I guess I'm not really someone who holds up a lot of social contact. I've always been this way, maybe because of how some other kids treated me. One day I snapped and beat one up, who was even weaker than me and I was the one in trouble afterwards. I think because I have more bad memories with others, than good ones I turned out the way I am. Heck, sometimes I even wished I was in your place Mary."

"What?! But why?!" she exclaimed pretty dramatically. "You gotta see for yourself, but let's hope you won't be treated the way I've been treated." I stood up and stretched myself. "Enough about me. We'll never find a way out, unless we actually start looking. My vote goes to the sketchbook area, the one of two places we have yet to visit from the actual story."

The others looked at each other before Ib nodded. "Okay, follow me."

I could wander around for a few hours, if it was at a steady speed. But walking up all those stairs, oh god, why didn't anyone put an elevator there?!

Mary was right, this place was huge. On plus we now met the other paintings on regular bases. The first time we met one of the Ladies I jumped, grabbed the girls' hands and was ready to take off. As it turned out, the Ladies were only looking for me to bring me to Mary.

"You know, maniacal laughter isn't really the way to ask someone to come along." I said with a deadpan face. Green shrugged and walked her way. The dolls, statues and all the other paintings were now walking around, holding conversations and simply waving to each other.

"How come you feel lonely? There're a lot of people here to talk to." I talked to Mary. She frowned. "The others don't like me."

"Why?"

"They always run away."

"...? How so?"

"I don't know!" she shouted, making the few strolling paintings and statues running away. I sweatdropped at the empty sight. "Wow."

Apparently Mary didn't support my opinion and started crying, like really hard. She collapsed into Ib's arms, who sat down on the floor and silently comforted her. I placed myself next to them and stroke through her hair.

A 'psst' took my attention and I found Brown a little way, motioning me to follow. Now I was still wary of the paintings around, but if I want to find out stuff, I gotta overcome my newfound paranoia rather sooner, than later. Okay paranoia was overdoing it, but you get the idea.

"Take care of her. I'll be back in a minute." I whispered into Ib's ear. She nodded. Mary looked up to me, as I stood up. I bent down again and gave both a good hug. "I'll be back in no time. Okay?" Mary nodded between sobs and placed her head on Ib's chest. I gave a reassuring smile and followed Brown into an empty room.

I placed myself on the ground, so she didn't have to look up.

"So...what's up with her? Why are you all avoiding her?" I asked. Brown sighed.

"Mary was never taught right or wrong. When father was still alive, he used to spent a lot of time with her." she explained. "Guertena? So much for my theory he died in this world."

"He's dead? Well that explains why he wasn't coming anymore."

"You didn't know?" She shook her head. "Time doesn't run normally in this place. A few seconds outside, are a few days in this place. How long is he dead?" she asked.

"Oh shit. Well, he died just recently actually, from what I heard. But if he was so sick he couldn't come anymore, oh well. But wait, you said time doesn't flow normally here. So there must have been very long periods between his visits." I concluded.

Again she shook her head. "Father was an exception. I didn't know how he did it, but he managed to come and go. He was the one who had the most power over this world, when he was alive. He sometimes manipulated things, even time and we had a lot of fun back then." She looked like she was caught in a memory.

"Wait, there's a painting of him somewhere in this gallery. What about it?" I asked. She looked genuinely surprised. "There is?"

"Oh right." I slapped my head. "It's another puzzle. It's put into pieces, but if we put them together-"

"-father could be reborn." Brown finished eyes wide. "We're getting off topic." she realized. "Father may be able to help you, but you need to know about Mary." she explained.

"You said no one ever taught her right and wrong."

"Yes, she was still young when father didn't come back, like an infant. You have to know she is the strongest painting here. Although you gave birth to Guardian, she's not as strong as Mary, because you're not father."

"About that" I scratched the back of my head "where's she and...what's gonna happen to me?"

She looked to the side. "I don't know. Neither the first, nor the second."

Oh well, then...

"Do you know how I got here?" At this question she looked a little uncomfortable to the side. "It was me and my sisters."

"What?! And how?" I asked.

"It would take too long to explain it to you. I also wanted to apologies. Me and my sisters have been too reckless."

"Reckless?" Why do I have the feeling I don't like where this is going?

"You see, the new traps, the messages and the newspapers...it had been all our doing."

...

"We all did it for Mary. Despite her hurting us a lot...we love her. She's our little sister. And so you were going to be-"

"-trapped in here." I finished. "The papers?" I asked in a neutral tone.

She shook her head. "You'll have to find out by yourself."

Before I could press on, the door behind me opened. I looked over my shoulder and found Mary, her eyes being shadowed by her messy hair. This conversation was over, I could tell. Brown was shivering and I had a bad feeling about this. Ib was behind Mary, holding her hand. She walked into the room with Mary and Brown backed away.

"What have you done?" Mary asked Brown.

"M-Mary I-"

"You tried to steal my friend, right?"

Definitely a bad feeling. I stood up. Brown was already at the end of the room and Mary walked straight passed me. "You...made me angry sister."

"Mary, please listen!"

"Mary!"

She didn't listen to me. I quickly walked over and recovered the few things I knew about children from my memory. Truth to be told, what I was doing next, I knew from looking south park, as I bent down to her level. Yeah, I tend to catch up the best things from the worst sources.

"Mary" I put both hands on her shoulders "she didn't try to 'steal me away' or anything. She just told me some things and we had a little talk."

Okay, not the best choice of words, but at least she stopped. Ib put a hand on Mary's back and smiled at the girl. Mary put both hands on my shoulders and put _a lot _of pressure on them. I hissed. "Mary, just because something is not going the way you want it, it is no reason to get angry. Hsss, Mary, the reason is everyone is avoiding you is because you're hurting them when you're angry. Nnnrrgh, how'll you feel if I rip off your painting just because you ate more sweets than I did?"

I couldn't come up with anything better, but that did the job. She released the pressure and was just touching my shoulders. "How would you feel?" I asked.

She looked down. "I would be...hurt."

"See? You can't just hurt anyone, because you feel like it. You have to see it how others feel and think how you would feel if they would do this to you."

She started crying again. Ib and I took her in our arms. "Shh, shh, it's alright." We leaned against a wall and Ib and Mary were on my lap, not really comfortable, but this wasn't the time to complain. I expected Brown to use the opportunity to slowly leave this place, but instead, she kept staring at us, like we just build a rocket in front of her eyes. She crawled over to us. Mary turned her head around.

"I'm sorry." she choked out. Brown came into the hug and whispered. "Don't worry, everything is fine." she whispered. She then looked over to me and came close to my ear. "The gallery you're going to is still dangerous. Since we don't know about you, be extra careful." She left afterwards.

_And I thought things were about to get finally boring._

Mary fell asleep after some more crying. "I know where a bed is." Ib whispered. "I'm gonna carry her. Ummph, oh god, I think I gave her a little too many sweets." I groaned. Ib slapped me in response. It turns out there was a bed in another room and I put Mary in there. Ib climbed in there too and snuggled under the blanket.

I walked outside and let out a frustrated sigh. If it wouldn't have been for Mary, I'd have gotten some good amount of information. Brown was nowhere in sight and I didn't know this part of the gallery. I yawned. This would close up day six in the gallery. Good thing I have the habit of turning off my cell phone, since well, no one really calls me except my boss.

"Seb?" the door behind me opened. There were Ib and Mary, peeking from behind the door. "Aren't you tired?"

"To be honest...yeah, guess so."

So in the end all three of us got under bed, the two covering the one side and I covered the other. My feet did hurt a lot and so I fell asleep pretty fast.

XXX

Ib POV

I woke up, seeing Mary was already awake. I looked into her blue eyes. I never grew tired in seeing them. Behind me I heard Seb briefing, but it was almost as if he wasn't there. I just looked into Mary's eyes. She blinked, but I didn't look away.

"Ib?" she asked. I touched her face and kept my hand there. She took me and pressed me against her. I could feel how strong she pressed only to press less strong in the next moment and ever so on. She handled me like a flower. I remembered how I once collected flowers, but held them too strong, so they got broken.

"Do I hurt you?" she asked. I shook my head and gave her a small kiss. Suddenly we heard a thud and the blanket was gone.

"Ow..."

Seb fell out of the bed. Mary burst into laughter and I giggled. Seb rubbed his head and looked at us.

"Yeah, funny." he said, rubbing his right arm. "Why do I always land on this arm? That's the one I broke four times." he groaned.

Mary was back to her usual self and jumped up and down on the bed. She pulled me up and the two of us were jumping on the bed, laughing.

"Alright guys. Let's go." Seb even made the bed before we walked outside. Mary and I jumped up and down. She took my hand and now the two of us were jumping up and down. I never had so much fun in my life. If only mom and dad would be hear.

"Hey Seb, what's that?!" Mary cheered all of the sudden. I looked over and found Seb looking at something. "Oh this?" he showed it to us. It was a green key. "I found it, even before I found my rose and I never got to use it. Mary any ideas?"

"A green door!"

He bent over and let his arms hung. "Well THAT'S helpful -.-"

He put the key away and we went on, following Mary, who jumped every now and then to us, especially me and jumping circles around us.

We made a break, when we were almost back to the violet gallery.

"Who designed this place? Did anyone ever heard of the word elevator?" Seb exclaimed. He took out some newspaper pieces and read them to himself. "A copycat...torture...serial...that doesn't help. Considering it really wasn't 'me', who did this all? And how the hell is this supposed to help to get out?" He didn't notice I was listening.

He kept mumbling to himself, but I didn't understand a thing he said. I looked over to Mary, who looked over to me and then she came over to me.

"Oh man, get a room you two." He left us.

"Ignore him Ib." Mary and I started kissing, but then all of the sudden she started tickling me. I tried to tickle back, but she was better and in the end I was lying on the floor with Mary lying on me.

"I win!" she shouted.


	13. Chapter 13

**13) Mary's present**

**A/N: Man, it's been a while and I'm still not sure how to end this story, xd.**

I took a little stroll around, waiting for Ib and Mary to remember that we still didn't know how to get out. I had an idea, but it was a little risky. It worked in the fanfics, so hell it would be worth a try. I found a nearby chair and placed myself on it. I looked at my cell phone and decided to give the two 15 minutes of alone time.

Staring into the darkness, I wondered what happened to the painting I finished earlier. Considering one had to stay behind my plan could work better than I wanted it to plan. Then she would be the one trapped here, but did she want to get out? Maybe she'd get along better with the other paintings, than Mary, who was a little bit insane.

A statue was passing by and it casually waved its hand. I waved back, even if this all still felt weird. Red was passing by after 7 minutes and stopped in front of me.

"Shouldn't you be with Ib and Mary?" she asked. "They're getting all lovely again." I rolled my eyes.

Red giggled. "Aw, are we jealous?" she teased. "Gotta admit, a little. But I never was the kind of guy for relationships." I said. "Isn't that a little uncomfortable? Your...frame?" I asked.

Red shrugged. "I've been always like this, so I guess you could say I don't know how it is to have legs." she answered. "You really haven't thought of having someone special?" she asked. "There was this one girl..." I admitted, looking to the side.

"Ooooh! Tell me, tell me!" her eyes seemed to glitter.

"Don't get all worked up, there's nothing romantic. I confessed, she refused, we stayed friends. End of story."

Red let out a disappointed sigh. "Well, tell me about her."

"Hmm, can't say much. Most stuff I know about her is private and something you don't just tell anyone. And even that is totally vague. Well what I can tell...she isn't beautiful or anything with perfect curves. I just liked her personality. She was always funny to have around, we had a similar humor, except I was the only one with the death jokes. We both liked video games and she helped me a lot when I was still in school. I dunno, maybe it wasn't love what I felt and only my hormones were overreacting."

Man that was a long talk.

"I'm sure you love her." she said totally convinced. "I doubt it..." I replied. I looked at my cell phone and back at Red. "Do you know by any chance why Mary wants to go out? I mean she got plenty of company here."

Red frowned. "It's not like we don't like her, it's just she always hurts us, when nothing goes her way. That's why we avoid her." she briefly explained.

"Hmm...Brown said something similar. Well, now I got a picture of everything. By the way, have you seen the painting 'Guardian'?" I asked. Red shook her head. "No, I'm actually looking for her right now. Shouldn't you go back to them?"

"I guess." I stood up. "Well, in case we won't get out, see you later."

"Bye!"

Red crawled off and I walked back to Ib and Mary and found them wrestling on the ground with Mary being on top. Ib tried to turn things around, but Mary being a painting was just too strong.

"Hate to interrupt, but shouldn't we get going?" I asked amused.

"Aw..." Mary got up and helped Ib. Now that I took a closer look at them, I could clearly see that Mary was totally obsessed with Ib. Hopefully there wouldn't come some kind of misunderstanding between the two, because I was sure Mary wouldn't take it lightly.

20 minutes later we were finally back in the purple gallery. There had been a door which was now visible. Were there more of them? I got a little nervous. Brown warned me that in the extra dungeon we'd still be in danger and now that Mary's rose was real was she in danger as well?

We walked up the stairs and to the room with the statue blocking the way.

"Could you please step aside? We need to get through." Mary asked the statue politely. A few seconds later it stepped aside and we could pass without any trouble.

"The sketchbook area." I said more to myself as we walked down the path. I almost fell not being able to see the stairs. Badly painted shooting stars flew above our heads and Ib looked after them dreamingly.

"So pretty..." she whispered.

"You wouldn't say that if you'd know the background music playing in this area. But I like the contrast to the rest of the gallery. Planning on become an artist Mary?" I asked.

"Yup, like my daddy! Hey Seb, do you know where my daddy is?"

I cringed visibly. From the looks of it Ib knew it too. "Ib? Seb?"

I sighed. "I don't know any details, but it seemed he died just recently."

"H-huh?" Mary stood there in shock. She definitely didn't expect to hear that.

"Th-that's...YOU'RE LYING!" she shouted on top of her lungs. Ib and I pulled the poor girl into a hug. "We can bring him back, you know?" Better to tell it now, before she went mad and did something she'd regret later.

"Huh?"

"There's a painting of Guertena."

"R-really?"

"It's in pieces and I don't exactly remember the puzzles we need to solve to get them all, but I can lead us to the area. Hard to miss actually."

Mary buried her face into my chest and started crying. I could see Ib's jealous face and immediately included her into the hug.

We continued walking and came to the sketchbook area. Mary created the puzzles around here. Gotta give her credit for creativity.

"Umm..." she suddenly stopped as we were next to one of the houses. "Something wrong?" I asked, inwardly preparing for her to lose it again. When we get out of here, she'd need to see a therapist for sure.

"Can you two wait here?" Mary asked. Ib and I looked at her confused. She'd been all sticky this whole time and now she wanted to head off somewhere?

"What is it?" I asked. "Umm...Ib, it is your birthday, right?"

Ib nodded. I grinned. "You wanna give her a present? Good idea, I should get one for Ib too. Mind if I tag along?" I asked.

"No, no, it-it's a surprise! You already gave us a sweet, that's enough!" she almost shouted. Now I got a little worried. "Okay and thank you." Ib gave Mary a hug. I guess that's that then. "Wait there" she pointed at the building "I'll be right back!" And she was off.

"I guess I'm getting paranoid."

"Para-what?" Ib asked. "It's when you have the feeling you're watched the entire time and expect something bad to happen and you're afraid at the same time." I explained. "Let's go in."

Aside from being badly drawn, it still felt like a normal door and opened like one. There was a table with two chairs on each side, in the middle some red fruits on a plate. A clock was hanging on the wall, but it wasn't ticking.

"If I was Mary, I'd have probably grabbed you and headed straight for the exit." I said looking around. We walked over to the table and picked up one of the fruits. "An apple, maybe?" I wondered throwing it a little up and catching it again.

"Wanna try?" I held it to Ib. She just gave me her signature stare. I sweatdropped and put the fruit away from where I got it. We placed ourselves on each side of the table, with Ib waving her legs up and down the whole time we waited.

I got bored, so I placed my arms on the table and my head on top looking in direction of the door. Ib was practically doing the same, only she had way more patients than I did. I would hum a tune, whistle or tap my fingers on the table. Eventually I got so bored, my brain started actually working and I noticed several things I totally overlooked and might help us. But there was one question that was on my mind.

"You're actually pretty calm about this, you know, me coming from a world where you're a mere video game character, suffering to other people's amusement."

I quickly explained amusement to her. Sometimes I forget how old she is, because she's coping pretty well with the entire situation.

Ib shrugged. "It's like in a fairy tale."

[Insert music suddenly stopping]

I fell off my chair. If someone would tell me that my world is a mere video game and present solid proof to that, I'd totally freak out. I slowly used my arms to support myself on the table and got back on my chair.

I'll never understand that girl. I may be a self proclaimed expert on crazy minds, but Ib was one tough customer. She looked at me innocently. Before those eyes did something bad to my psyche, I looked over to the door again. "What's taking her so long? Is she making a painting of you?"

I ended up walking around in the room endlessly until we heard Mary's voice from outside. "I'm back~!" she shouted. Ib got up with an excited look on her face. Mary entered the house and ran straight to Ib, grabbing her hand. "Come on, go look!"

Curiously I followed the two girls outside. I couldn't help but wonder. The time Mary had been away was not enough to get to the lower levels and get something from down there. Maybe she ran into the room with her painting where all the chalk was scattered around. Boy I couldn't have been any more wrong.

I counted at 4 gasps (myself included). You know what that means right?

Yeah.

Mary 'invited' more people to join our little party.

And I don't mean ANY people.

Already figured it out?

Right in front of the three of us stood Ib's parents totally shocked. And honestly, who could blame them? The mother had a red-brown rose in her hair and the father a completely brown one tugged on his suit, like I have done before on my vest.

I was the first one to recover from his stupor and facepalmed. "Mary, tell me I'm imagining things." I said in a deadpan voice, while looking to her from between my fingers.

She looked at me smiling brightly. "Nope. These are Ib's parents!"

"I know you only mean this good, but...uhh...forget it. It may be for the better." Or the worse for me. If they heard about me, chances were pretty good I was the one to stay behind. I was getting pretty selfish there.

"MOMMY! DADDY!" I almost covered my ears. Ib had never been this loud and boy, you won't belief me, but that girl was capable of breaking the sound barrier.

"IB!" Her parents exclaimed and Mary and I got to witness a really heartbreaking family scene. "Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea." I mused as I saw how much Ib really missed her parents. I didn't spend a lot of time with her, but I already developed a protection instinct over her, kind of like a big brother.

Ib was the one to break up to the surprise of her parents. She walked over to Mary and hugged her. "Thank you, Mary."

She's kind of reason you're in this mess. I didn't say it out loud, but a big bead of sweat rolled down the back of my head.

"I hate to interrupt you two, but I think we SHOULD explain to them what is actually going on, wouldn't you agree?" I asked.

"And you're?" Ib's father asked, looking at me suspiciously. Oh joy...

"Sebastian. Nice to meet you Mr..."

"Kouri."

I almost had a breakdown when I heard that particular name. Kouri, huh? Isn't the universe a funny place?

Ib and Mary had still an arm around each other's waist. "Well, let's start off. Do you two know where we're?" I asked.

Ib's parents looked around a little. "Not really." Ib's mother admitted. "It is so...strange? What is this place?" she asked.

I looked over to Mary. She nodded slowly and I continued.

"This may sound crazy, but we're inside the painting called 'Fabricated World'."

"That's right!" Mr. Kouri exclaimed. "Now I remember. We were looking for Ib and when we were in front of that painting the lights began to flicker. Then a yellow writing appeared telling us to jump through if we wanted to find our daughter." he finished. So that's how Mary got them here.

"So that's why we couldn't find our daughter. Oh Ib, you must have been so scarred. And I see you made a friend!" Ms. Kouri bent down to Ib's level and then looked over to Mary who blushed a little.

What about me?

Okay, they believed the crazy part, now to the hard part.

"Ms. and Mr. Kouri" with my serious tone I got their attention back "What I'm about to tell you, may make you angry towards Mary. But I want you to look at it from her perspective and how she felt all those who knows how many years." Wow, can you actually say that? "I want you to let me finish first and then make your final judgment. Can I ask this of you?"

...

"I admit, I don't like the sound of your tone, but we'll do as you please. Right hone'?"

"Right."

I took in a deep breath and started.

I didn't tell them about me being from yet another world and I kept Ib's and Mary's relationship a secret. But that was all I held back.

I told them about this gallery. About my theory how the artist managed to bring life to this world, by putting a lot of effort into it. I remembered the one diary entry. I told them about Mary. Who and what she really was.

"From the moment we met, I knew she was a painting. I've seen her picture in a magazine before and asked one of the employees about the whereabouts of her picture."

I told them how dangerous this gallery COULD BE. I didn't hide the fact I almost died on multiple occasions.

"About your rose" Mr. Kouri interrupted in a neutral tone "Where is it?"

I scratched the back of my head. "I'll come to that. Thinking back now, it could have been a really stupid move. But this is not a video game where you can just reload and try again."

I came to the part of the separation. My little trials and tribulations in the downer parts of the gallery. And how I came to that room.

"You don't come to have seen a girl with blue hair?" I asked. They shook their heads. So much for getting my rose back.

I told them about our reunion. And finally, the one condition of leaving this gallery and how we tried looking for a way out for all of us.

Then came the moment of silence. The three of us looked uncomfortable to the two. Ib took Mary in both arms and gave her parents the puppy dog eyes. I prepared myself for the worst. In case of a 'no' Mary would lose it. I knew her that well. And when she lost it, anything could happen.

I felt Mary grabbing my hand. She trusted me too. I pressed her hand firmly. I knew what it meant to be alone. I may have chosen that kind of life, but not from the beginning. Plus I can't stand it if anyone suffers. Nothing against killing someone for something likes revenge or anything, but nah, not torture. And Mary had enough of that.

Eventually it looked like they had decided. All of us tensed up and couldn't wait for their decision, yet at the same time we were totally afraid of it. It was easier to go through that by sharing it. Now I knew what all those books and movies talked about.

Ms. Kouri stepped forward, bent down and hugged Mary. "You poor thing."

Ib and I let out a deep breath we've been holding. I smiled wryly while Ib joined the hug. Mary muttered something, probably a 'thank you' and started crying again. I walked over to Mr. Kouri.

"Are you surprised?" he asked.

"A little, gotta admit. I thought after you heard your daughter went through hell with a stranger and a painting with psychological issues." I replied.

"One has to stay behind?" Mr. Kouri asked.

I shrugged. "I have a few ideas, but I don't know if it'll work. Mary told us we're near the exit, but one of the paintings gave me a warning. In the last gallery we'll be still in danger. We can avoid that gallery, but we might miss useful clues on if there's a way out for all of us. Oh and I heard the painting of Guertena is in there in pieces. If we put it back together, he might come to live again and tell us about this place."

Mr. Kouri shook his head. "This is crazy."

"You'll get used to it. Gotta warn you, Ib and Mary cured me from my melancholy. I just started with my sick death jokes again."

He gave me a weird look that said: "Are you kidding me?"

Mary eventually calmed down and took Ib's hand again. I shook my head, smiling.

"Sorry guys, but I have to break the good mood again." I got everyone's attention. I let out a sigh. "In case, IN CASE there is no way out: one of us needs to stay behind." I looked around at everyone, having a serious face. I took out the green key and looked at it for several seconds, before putting it away.

"In that case" hands shaking...voice breaking...sweating bullets..."I'm gonna stay behind." I said really quickly.

"NO!" Ib shouted. She ran over to me and tried to pull me down with both hands on my arms. I broke free and ruffled her hair. "Hey Ib, forgotten? The ladies brought me here. Now you've been proven to be the best puzzle solver out of all of us. So solve me this? Where exactly do I come from?"

Ib thought for a moment and then her eyes widened. "This might be my ticket to get home. I'll just have to ask how they pulled me in and more importantly where. Then they simply can (might be able) to push me back the other way around."

Ib knew it wasn't a guarantee. But I had some other ideas. I thought a lot ever since we got back together.

"Excuse me, what are you talking about?" Mr. Kouri asked. I shook my head and waved off. "You wouldn't belief me. Shall we go? I'm about to forget how the sun looks like."


End file.
